Theseus wasn't a babe. He was young. He was strong. He was firm in his beliefs.

His mother was a goddess in human skin. A force of nature. A storm that you wouldn't see until she obliterated you. He was barely old enough to understand everything, but he knew that his mother was not someone to be trifled with.

Then there were his cousins. He remembered the conversations that they had about demons. Theseus didn't really understand much from that either, but he remembers the flashes of something evil and angry that came from them whenever they felt too deep in their grief.  His special eyes could tell that something was not quite right--- quite human about them. His mother had always said to not look at as something bad, but to think of it as a duckling trying to find its way home. Therefore, if Theseus had any words to describe his cousins, he would call them demon ducklings.

And now here in the past, he got the chance to meet this rest of his family. The ones that his cousins and mother spoke about in awed whispers. His grandfather who Theseus knew that Jamila became so close to him that they were basically attached to the hip. He knew that they hadn't always had a close relationship... that he had only known about her for as long as Theseus breathed, but Jamila spoke of him as he had raised her himself.

He knew of his aunt and uncles. He knew of how his mother saved his uncle from his grandmother. He knew of his mother learning sing language just so she could speak freely with his other uncle. He knows of his aunt that took "one look at me and decided that it was time to do know all that prissy girly shit sleepover and tea party shit". He also knew that they both enjoyed it, and that they regularly had sleepovers where they painted each other's nails and talk about past missions and gossiped about rumors in through the underworld.  He knew that the four of them frequently went out for brunch whenever they had the free time before everything went to hell. He remembers the few pictures that she carried around on her. A group shot with all four of them together, and a few with each of them holding him as a baby. He knows they all had special names for him. Theo

He knew of his father from his Athanasia as she had been the one to see the relationship bloom between his parents. She told him how the first time she saw his father holding Theseus... his special eyes were activated so he could never forget the moment. He knew of how smart and humble he was according to his mother's muttering when she thought he was asleep. He knew he shared his father's curls. He had his mother's eyes. When he smiled, it was like looking at her father as he doused his food in spices. He had been trained for efficiently like his mother, but he been trained for speed like his father. Similar as they may be, but his mother made sure he knew the difference.

["if anything were to happen to me, Habibi, I want you to run. Run as fast as your legs can carry you and then run some more. Listen to the whispers of the wind and they will guide to a safe place. Run and never look back. If anything happened to me, run and know that your father and I will follow in the wisps in air.]

He gazed upon his great-aunt. The one that he knew his mother worshipped. Theseus could tell as she looked upon, he and his cousins that she loved them. Her eyes trailed over them slowly dissecting them and putting them back together. She was the Matriarch to their clan. A force to be reckoned with. Damian had always stated how she made his father, the legendary Batman, tremble at her feet when she felt passionate enough. Suren said she smiled so softly even as she played the people of the world like a game of chess. She just had a strong presence that seemed to linger even after she left. Athanasia spoke of how if she really wanted to then she could have ruled the world with careful planning. Mara spoke of a woman that saw them as weapons and precious gems wrapped into people. She spoke of how his great aunt bundled them up in her love even as she set them loose into their world.

And there was godfather, his cousin, and uncle rolled into one. Mother never spoke about him. Her eyes would shine with pain and grief and something wild. Her body would shut down, and when Theseus looked at her with his special eyes, she seemed to glow a greenish color. Athanasia said that Jason was the one to make her human. Each of them had spoken of strength and his heart. How he risen from the gutter to fly above the land. How his wings had gotten clipped, but he preserved. How he went from robin to a falcon. If his mother was a goddess, then his godfather was a god. Theseus could see that even in his weakened form (and Theseus could tell that he was sporting injuries) that it would be hard pressed to beat the man.

[He really wanted to be trained by the man that managed to bring his family together and hold on to it. The one who managed make his mother feel to the point that she let his father into her life. He just wanted to thank him for paving the way that allowed for Theseus to be born. He just wanted to tell him how grateful he was that the man had been given another chance at life. Anther chance to spread his love and care and magic over the world. The world would be horrible without him. Theseus knows that personally.]

Theseus hadn't met his father yet. Though he'd admit that it had been only a few hours since they've landed in this strange time. He wondered what the man would think of him when he saw him. Would he be proud? Would he be disappointed? Would he look at him with such heartbroken rage like his mother when she thought he wasn't looking? He remembered the times she would hold him close and whisper that this wasn't the life she wished for him. He could see the bitterness in her every time he picked up a sword.

On the nights he couldn't sleep, he'd silently watch her as she trained body. She had been trained from a young age. Even younger than he. As soon as her legs had been able to support her body, her physical training started. Once she had been able to sit up on her own, she was holding onto plastic and wooden knives. No matter how much her aunt had tried... she was born a weapon first and a child second.

She never wanted that for Theseus. She had been angry at the world. At Vandal. At her family. At herself for the life that she had to force upon him. How she had push him beyond his limits despite how much he cried and bled just so that he would be able to live the next day.

She had hated it all, but she never stopped loving Theseus.

He couldn't help but to wonder if his father would feel the same.

Theseus stared up at the ceiling of this compound. There was a light humming in the air as if he was being judged. Nanda Pardat.

His mother and cousins had always spoken about it during his training and whenever they had the free time to spare. It was their home and it meant different things to them. There was something spiritual in the air. He could feel it in his bones.

He felt at peace. He felt at home. It was as if something that had been screaming at him since the day, he had been born had finally quiet down. A place of healing and enlightenment. He could feel it in his soul the peace it brought.

He didn't understand why his cousins felt so bitter and uneasy yet strangely relaxed as they settled in, but Theseus loved it. A flash of green flickers out of his peripheral, but Theseus doesn't turn towards it. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for the onslaught of bad dreams.

His mother... the one who had raised him stayed behind ... he was young, but he was not an idiot.

Letting his senses open, he embraced the peace of Nanda Pardat as he finally succumbs to sleep.

--

Jason's morning was spent flittering through countless meetings with the council, trips down to the medical ward, observing training, and going over reports. He was tired, but he could admit to being thankful for distraction from the news the time travelers brought.

The war to end all wars was just around the corner and they were nowhere near prepared. It didn't help the fact that none of the squads sent out to investigate the all known Lazarus pits had reported in yet. It hadn't been long since they had been sent out, but he was hoping that they have heard something.

Then there was the timeline in itself. Talia had people pouring over the schematics to the machine the time travelers brought back with them. The kids (and wow, could he really call them kids when they were technically the same age as him?) had told him they only got the machine because Dickhead had gotten himself sent to another universe. (Where apparently Jason had an older half-sister... wow.) Which means that with the war preparations, would Dick still get himself sent to this other universe (where he apparently kept a lot of shit from happening to the family such as stopping Jason from dying)?

He sat back in his seat as he looked at the various monitors in front of him. Jamila was feeding baby Theseus as her boytoy looked over his own mission reports on one screen. On another screen, Shiva and Slade and Ubu were scaring the new recruits as they put them through brutal training. He rose a brow when he saw Talia stroll into the room in her own training clothes.

She was going to fucking wreck them.

His Damian and cousins and adopted son brother were attempting to make their way to their future counterparts' room in Ra Al Ghul's old quarters.

In there, Little Theseus was mediating while sitting on Mara's back as she did pushups. Athanasia was doing pullups using the door. Suren was cooking in the small kitchen with the food that Talia had sent over that morning. Damian was doing some light katas in the corner.

They simultaneously looked like little soldiers while looking perfectly normal.  He had sent Connor and Rose out that morning to send word to the Arrows, Speedsters, Super, Aqua, Wonder and Bat Families. Rose would be going to the Court of Owls and the Outlaws and by extension, the Lanterns.

Jason frowned slightly. The conference hall would need to be cleared out for the different people that were going to joining them for this meeting. It was going to be brutal. He sighed lightly as he reached for a blueberry scented Apollon Cream. His wounds had been healing nicely, but it was still nothing that he was used to with the pit waters flowing through his system. Luckily, he was able to start physical therapy tomorrow to begin rebuilding his strength.

Even Jamila was happy if the smile on her face was any indication. He knew from the doctors that her accelerated healing finally kicked in properly and she was able to start using the Apollon Cream.

Jason rose a brow at the screens when the kids finally managed to sneak into their counterparts' quarters. They argued with each other for a few minutes before Theseus twitched and Older Damian (he was just going to start calling him Damian and the younger version Dami.) sighed before opening the door for them.

Jason hummed as Dami and the others froze at the sight of Damian staring at them with an unimpressed expression before he stood to the side and let them in. The teenager then looked right up at the camera watching them before nodding his head in acknowledgement and turning away.

A message appearing on the screen told him of how Rose and Connor managed to convince everyone to meet up in a week. Sighing, he had to prepare for everything a meeting that was going to give him a headache worse than Joker hitting him with that crowbar.