Happy b-day to Batwoman's Meagan Tandy. And yes, I'm aware that Batwoman was canceled, but I got my rant about that out of my system during the last chapter of Legends and honestly, I have to admit, I'm more upset that Legends was canceled than I am that Batwoman was. But anyways, on with the story.
Later on that night, Bruce was standing in the back wing of the Batcave, in the room he'd dubbed the memorial room, since it had contained artifacts from all his fallen allies. Though he had to admit, right now the room only had one attraction.
"I see you kept his suit." Talia said as she entered the room.
"Do I even want to know how you got in here?" Bruce asked her.
"Probably not. Don't worry, no one died." Talia said.
"I know. It wouldn't really help your case if you murdered my employees." Bruce said and Talia chuckled.
"Fair point. But I have to admit, I am surprised to see that you kept this item. It seems more like something you'd want to forget." Talia said, since they were looking at the torn and bloody remains of the Robin suit, formerly owned by Bruce's old sidekick, Jason Todd.
"I keep it here to honor Jason, all the good he did for Gotham. He deserves more, but this is the best I could do." Bruce said.
"You know what happened to him was not your fault Bruce." Talia said.
"I brought him into this life. I gave him that suit and let him put himself in danger and it ended with the Joker and his toymaker beating him to death." Bruce said.
"You didn't force him to join you Bruce, he chose to enter this life. Just as you did." Talia said.
"That doesn't stop the guilt I feel everytime I think about it." Bruce said.
"Perhaps that's because you feel as though you haven't truly gotten justice for him or any of the Joker's other victims. Including another former flame of yours. Barbara Gordon." Talia said.
"He didn't kill Barbara." Bruce said.
"No, but he did kill Batgirl by making her unable to walk. Where is she now anyways?" Talia asked.
"California with Dick. I sent her there because I knew that he'd keep her safe and also provide her with some comfort." Bruce said.
"I thought you threw him out of your life when he abandoned you." Talia said.
"We had a difference of opinion, but I still respected him and he respected me. I understood that he couldn't keep doing this, so I let him go." Bruce said.
"I think he was the lucky one." Talia said.
"Talia, please, don't." Bruce said.
"Remember how many people you have lost because of the Joker. And yet, you still refused to kill him." Talia said.
"Because that would be letting him off too easily for all the pain he caused. He wants me to kill him, he wants me to be just as dark and twisted as he is and honestly, I'm not that far from it." Bruce said.
"If you ever think that again, I will put you in Arkham myself. You are not that monster. You never kill and you've devoted your life to protecting people." Talia said.
"I know, but still." Bruce said.
"Bruce, I know you swore never to take a life, but honestly, the reason the League exists is because even back then, we knew that there were people who did not deserve to live." Talia said.
"And the Joker is definitely one of them." Kate said as she entered the room.
"Kate, what are you doing here?" Bruce asked.
"Clearly interrupting a moment, but it's urgent. You must be Talia al Ghul." Kate said.
"If your cousin told you about me, I don't understand how you're so kind." Talia said.
"Because I know another one of your students. Oliver Queen." Kate said and now Talia understood.
"I'm glad you know him. He's a good man and unlike your cousin, he understands that sometimes killing is a necessary evil." Talia said and Kate nodded.
"He does. And while I still don't think I can bring myself to kill Alice, it's more because she's still my sister. But the Joker. He's someone that even I'll admit needs to die, since if it weren't for him, my sister would not be a homicidal maniac who suffered through god knows what and my mother would not be MIA." Kate said.
"You really believe that Kate?" Bruce asked her.
"I do. Especially since I found out that he's part of the reason Ryan grew up the way she did." Kate said.
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.
"I'll give you two some privacy, but Bruce, we do need to finish this talk." Talia said and Bruce nodded as Talia left.
"Damn, what is it with you falling for your enemies?" Kate asked him.
"You were saying Kate?" Bruce asked, trying to get them back on topic.
"Right, I'll tease you about that later. But anyways, Jada told me that the day that Joker ran my mom's car off the road, well, her son Marquis was on the bus he hijacked and the Joker pressed his joybuzzer to Marquis's head." Kate said and now Bruce was giving it his full attention.
"And let me guess, he hasn't been the same since?" Bruce asked.
"According to Jada, yeah. She's been keeping her distance from Ryan to protect her from Marquis, which means that he's likely very dangerous. Jada's been trying to find a fix for him, but she can't. I thought you might know something." Kate said.
"My best guess, the buzzer shut down the part of Marquis's brain that controls empathy, meaning that he could turn into a sociopath." Bruce said.
"Is there any way to fix that so Jada won't have to keep her distance from Ryan to protect her from Marquis?" Kate asked.
"Maybe. Follow me." Bruce said as he led Kate into another side room in the back hall to reveal some kind of case filled with several items that Kate was very surprised to see.
"What is this?" Kate asked.
"This is, for lack of a better term, my trophy case. It's where I store the weapons from all the criminals I've taken down." Bruce said.
"I can see that you've got quite the collection here." Kate said as she took a look at the case and saw everything it contained.
"Yeah." Bruce said.
"Man, you've got something from nearly everyone. Mad Hatter's hat, Penguin's umbrella, Killer Croc's tooth, a sample of Clayface's mud, Bane's venom, Mr. Freeze's freeze serum, Scarecrow's fear toxin, Condiment King's Condiment Gun, Catwoman's whip, Phantasm's mask, a clipping of Poison Ivy's vines and of course, what would your collection be without toys from your greatest enemy. Joker's acid flower and his joybuzzer." Kate said in shock that it had been here this whole time.
"Yeah, though it's still not a complete collection, since it is missing the Riddler's cane and Mr. Freeze's gun." Bruce said.
"You really kept all these weapons?" Kate asked.
"You and I both know that Gotham's city officials cannot be trusted to keep these weapons secured." Bruce said.
"Fair enough. But I'm guessing that you brought me here to show me the buzzer." Kate said and Bruce nodded.
"I think that what the buzzer did, it can undo. The only problem is that before I put it in here, I had Luke's father dismantle it for safety reasons and I don't know anyone who could fix it." Bruce said.
"We'll find someone. But we don't tell anyone about Marquis until we have a way to fix him." Kate said and Bruce nodded in agreement at that.
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Second Chances: Batwoman - Rough Draft
قصص الهواةMy name is Kate Kane. this is not the story i thought I'd be telling. When i came back to Gotham after 5 years away and from another universe, I knew I'd have a lot on my plate protecting my city, but I never imagined it would be like this or how mu...
