The Pull of the Wound
Wayne Manor – Garden Path, Just Before Dusk
Peter stood under the willow tree again. Same place he’d stood the night he first asked Damian if they sparred here.
Now… he remembered every fight.
Every laugh.
Every scream.
His hands were steady, but his chest burned.
Behind him, Damian’s voice came quietly. “You’re thinking of going to her.”
Peter didn’t lie. He nodded.
Damian stepped closer. “You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
“She hurt you.”
“I know.”
Damian’s jaw tightened. “Then why?”
Peter turned to face him.
“Because I still love her.”
There was no shame in his voice. Just sorrow.
“She raised me. She taught me to fight, to think, to survive. Yes, she also broke me. But before she was my prison—she was my mother.”
Damian said nothing.
Peter’s voice grew quieter. “You have Bruce. You had Alfred. I had her. She didn’t know how to love right, but… it was still love.”
Damian looked away, fists clenched.
Peter stepped forward and gently rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m not going to join her. I just need to see her. One last time. Not as her weapon. Not as her ghost. As myself.”
Damian met his gaze. “You sure she won’t try to take you back?”
“If she does,” Peter said, “I’ll walk away.”
⸻
League Sanctuary – The Garden Where It All Began
Talia didn’t expect the rustle of feet behind her. Not anymore. She hadn’t hoped in weeks.
When she turned, her heart nearly stopped.
Peter.
Standing there, in dark clothes, taller than she remembered — the shadows of the Pit no longer clinging to him.
She whispered his name like a prayer. “Peter…”
He didn’t run to her.
He just stood still.
“I remember it all,” he said. “The birthday. The duel. The Pit. You dipping me over and over until I forgot who I was.”
She flinched — but didn’t deny it.
Peter’s voice broke. “I remember screaming for you to stop. And you… you held me tighter.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “Because I couldn’t lose you again.”
Peter stepped closer. “But you did. Every time you forced me to forget, you lost another piece of me.”
Talia nodded, lips trembling. “I know.”
There was silence.
Then Peter said, “And yet… I still came.”
Talia let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“Why?”
Peter’s eyes glistened. “Because part of me will always love you. And I needed you to know that.”
She reached for him, hesitating.
“May I?”
He nodded.
And she embraced him. Carefully. Like he was glass.
Peter leaned into it — just for a second. Just long enough to say goodbye to the part of him that still belonged to her.
Then he stepped back.
And she let him go.
This time, she didn’t try to stop him.