The Son I Couldn’t Save
League Sanctuary – Lazarus Pit Chamber, Midnight
The stone hallway was dark, but Damian knew the way.
He didn’t need light. He could feel where they were — the bond between them, once psychic in childhood, now a ghost that refused to die.
He’d followed Peter’s steps. Not because he feared what he would do — but because he feared what his mother would.
The chamber doors were cracked open, the glow of the Pit leaking out in pulses like a slow heartbeat.
Damian pushed the doors open silently and stepped inside.
And there they were.
Peter and Talia.
Sitting side by side at the edge of the Pit. His brother’s head leaned gently against their mother’s shoulder. No words were spoken.
Peter looked… peaceful.
Talia looked like someone who had finally gotten back what she’d lost. But Damian knew better. That peace came from erasure, not healing.
From control.
He stepped forward. “You’re keeping him here.”
Peter tensed, but didn’t rise. His eyes flickered to Damian, not cold — but distant, fogged.
Talia stood slowly, placing herself between them like a shield. Her voice was calm, measured. “He came here on his own.”
Damian’s gaze locked on hers. “Because he doesn’t remember why he ever left.”
Peter’s brow furrowed. “I… I didn’t feel forced.”
“Because she’s poisoned you,” Damian snapped, his voice tightening. “She keeps dipping you in the Pit every time you remember who you are. Every time I reach you.”
Peter’s hand twitched.
He looked at Talia.
“…Is that true?”
Talia didn’t blink. “Yes.”
There was no apology in her tone.
Peter looked down at his hands.
“…Why?”
Her voice softened. “Because the memories hurt you. Because every time you started to remember — you screamed, you shook, you begged me to make it stop.”
Peter said nothing.
Talia stepped forward, eyes gleaming. “And I couldn’t bear to watch you suffer. Not again. I can’t lose you again, Peter.”
Damian clenched his fists. “You already lost him! You just kept the shell!”
Talia’s voice rose, venomous. “He is not a shell. He is my son!”
“And I’m his brother!”
Peter flinched between them.
The air crackled with tension. The Pit behind them churned, reflecting every twisted heartbeat.
“I love her,” Peter whispered.
Damian went still.
“I don’t remember her face when I was young,” Peter said. “But I remember her voice. Her care. Even now, I feel… safe with her.”
Talia’s eyes shone.
“I know she’s done things I don’t understand,” Peter continued. “But something inside me still… wants to stay.”
Damian stepped closer. “That’s not love. That’s trauma. That’s control. That’s—”
Peter’s voice cracked. “It’s all I have left.”
Silence.
And Talia, soft and victorious, whispered: “And I won’t let him go. Ever.”
Damian stared at her. “You would cage him like this. Forever.”
Talia nodded. “If that’s what it takes to keep him alive. I will not bury him again. I will not lose both my sons.”
Peter looked at them both.
Between the mother who kept him and the brother who fought to free him.
And he didn’t know who he was anymore.
But he felt this:
If he left her now, she might break.
If he stayed, Damian might never forgive him.
So he said nothing.
And Talia reached out, took his hand — and he let her.