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“You cannot hide from me Damian,” his father hissed out. Damian held his breath as Batman stalked past his hiding spot.
I cannot be loud, but my chest feels tight. Is this really my father? It has to be, there is no way it is not. But why would he do this? Why would he try to kill me? When did breathing become so hard? Was that the sound of fighting? Has someone finally answered my emergency beacon? I need to calm down. I cannot feel my hands. Has the fighting stopped?
Damian peers around the corner to locate Batman. As he does, a batarang flies inches from his head. He ducks back around the wall. “Father?” Damian’s whispered word quivers with pain and fear. He can feel the blood dripping from his hand. Damian tightens his grip on his abdomen as blood seeps through his clenched fingers. The Batman had just tried to kill him. There was no mistaking him for anyone else. He was dressed like his father and he acted like his father too. This was no imitation. This wasn’t Clayface. This wasn’t a clone. This was his father , his flesh and blood. There’s sound but Damian can’t focus on it enough to tell what it is. Does he hear fighting? Damina sees this as his opportunity to flee. He rushes across the rooftops nearby. He only makes it a couple blocks before he can’t move any longer. His vision starts to blur. He collapses to the floor. His mind is blank and fuzzy. Before he blacks out, a figure lands in front of him. For the first time in his life, he hopes it's not his father.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dick has never been so terrified in his entire life. Damian’s emergency beacon had gone off over an hour ago and now he was in surgery. Dick had never seen his brother look so weak and fragile. It scared the shit out of him. No one knew exactly how he was (except Alfred and Leslie, obviously) or what was happening. But as soon as Damina can be moved, they’re getting out of Gotham. Dick is going to bring as many of his siblings with him. Until they can find Bruce, Dick will keep them all in his apartment in Blüdhaven. Space be damned. We almost lost Damian tonight. Bruce has gone insane and no one, not even fucking Superman , knows where he is. Barbara and Tim can’t find anything about him. And when did the walls start closing in? Whatever, it doesn't matter. I just need to think. I- I can’t think! Dick turns around and heads out of Leslie’s clinic, Tim close on his heels. Everyone had shown up when they had found out what had happened, well almost everyone (Barbara was still at the Clocktower trying to find Bruce and Cass had gotten on a plane as soon as she had heard what happened). “Dick, please stay. Damian needs you to be here for him. You can’t run away, I know you want to but you can’t. The rest of us need you too. And you need us,” Tim sounded so small and so, so scared. Dick stops in front of his bike. He looks back at him, “I can’t be in there any longer, I just-” Dick abruptly sucks in air, trying to hold back a sob. “How could he do this?” It comes out as a whisper. Tim rams into Dick with a hug and Dick immediately wraps his arms around him. “It’ll be okay, Dick. You’re not alone. Everyone is here. I promise, we will fix this. And we will make sure no one else is hurt by him,” Tim whispers reassurances while Dick silently cries into his shoulder. Dick can only hope Tim is right. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle Bruce hurting anyone else.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Plip… plip… plip…
the cave was deathly quiet except for the distant drips of water. Bruce found it unnerving, he hadn’t been in this kind of silence since… well since after Jason’s death and before Tim. And even then, it was filled with a disappointed Alfred and an angry Dick.
You’re spiraling again, you need to get it together Bruce!
He sighs and sits heavily on a cot. He can hardly believe all that has happened. Bruce can officially say without a doubt that this has been the worst twenty four hours of his life. And it all started with Damian’s emergency beacon going off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Bruce had been about to check in with everyone on patrol that night, when he saw it. Pinging on his screen was his youngest’s emergency beacon. That was enough to send him into a panic. Damian was stubborn and believed with his whole heart that he could handle anything. This led to him not feeling the need to use his beacon at all. It had been a long and grueling battle just to get him to
carry
the beacon with him, even if he didn’t think he’d need it. So if he was actually using it for once, it meant that he was in serious danger. This set Bruce into motion immediately. He was racing across rooftops and grappling around as fast as he could.
When he arrived, the scene in front of him left him perplexed. Because in front of him was himself. Bruce was watching himself try to kill his son. His son who was trying to hide behind a chimney and was bleeding out, from between his hands on his side and his head. With that Bruce threw a Batarang at the other Bruce and jumped down to start his attack. The rest of the fight is a blur. All he knows is that Dick got to Damian and he has managed to capture another version of himself.
Now he is wanted by every superhero and vigilante in the world, has been blocked out and hunted by his family (Alfred included), and has to find a way to send Other Bruce back to where he came from with almost no tech. Maybe he should try talking to Other Bruce. He has a couple theories as to who Other Bruce is and where he came from. But some confirmation would be helpful.
His body weighs heavy, and his shoulders droop. Bruce is exhausted. He hasn’t slept in almost 48 hours. He’s been put through the wringer and he just wants to go home to the manor. He thinks it would have been movie night tonight, maybe Jason would have come. Maybe Damian would have fallen asleep on the couch and required someone to carry him up to bed. Maybe Tim would have taken a break from his work to spend time with them. Maybe…
It doesn’t matter what maybe would have happened. Right now he doesn’t have a family and that’s all that matters. Bruce is so tired. He should get some sleep.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Time to interrogate Other Bruce. Bruce approaches the makeshift prison he has managed to create. In the pseudo-cage, Other Bruce simply sits and stares.
“Are you actually Bruce Wayne, the Batman?” Bruce starts immediately, no easing in, and with the most obvious question first.
Other Bruce stares for a minute. He replies, “Yes, we are the same person. And I was doing you a favor before you got in my way.”
“Is that so?” Bruce raises an eyebrow under the cowl at that last remark. Then he continues, “Are you from the future? Or another timeline?”
Other Bruce stays silent, he seems almost baffled that Bruce just blew past his response. After his moment of shock, he tentatively replies, “Future, I was trying to correct my mistakes.”
Bruce ponders this answer.
What about letting Damian live is a mistake? Should I have just let it happen? No. How could you possibly think that Bruce? Whatever happens to you, it doesn't matter if Damian caused that. He is your son, and you will protect him at all costs. Even if it’s from yourself.
“What does Damian do?” Bruce cautiously asks. He’s
scared of the answer, and scared of the possible repercussions of knowing.
“He causes your downfall. He turns everyone you have ever loved or cared about against you. He tries to take your city from you. I mean he is the grandson of Ra’s Al Ghul, so you shouldn’t be surprised,” Other Bruce’s voice is filled with venom. As he speaks, hatred pours out of him like a noxious fog.
Bruce frowns, “But does he take care of Gotham? Does he still patrol? Are the others taking care of it?” Bruce knows that if his family ever abandoned him and took Gotham, it would be because Bruce couldn’t protect Gotham like he used to. Something else happened to Other Bruce. But it seems like not even Other Bruce knows it. Why he’s blaming Damian, Bruce hopes to never find out.
Other Bruce is once again shocked. Despite them being seemingly the same Bruce from different times, it’s almost like they don’t know each other. Like they aren’t actually the same Bruce. That makes Bruce think.
Maybe Other Bruce thought he was going to the past and ended up in another universe. Dammit, guess I can’t rule out anything. Note to self: check for residual Universe Hoping Energies
(UHE)
. If I can even get my hands on tech like that.
“It doesn’t matter what Damian has done to protect the city. The point is that he has taken everything from
me
!
Us
! Aren’t you worried about your future? Gotham is going to be under League control cause you wouldn’t let me finish the nasty shit off!” Other Bruce’s rant dies off. He breathes heavily with unleashed rage. It is after this that Bruce is hit with possibly the most bone chilling thought of the night.
I might become him.
For his sake and everyone else that Bruce has ever met and cared for even in the slightest, he hopes to whatever divine power is out there that this Bruce is from an alternate universe.
“Well, thank you, I guess. This has been… enlightening. I will be taking my leave now,” with that Bruce turns around and does not look back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After being cast out, Bruce could no longer return to the BatCave. That much is obvious. Luckily, Bruce was an adventurous kid. When he was 10, he found an entrance into the cave system underneath the Manor. The very same system that the BatCave now resides in. He had created a map, to the best of his abilities, of the caves as he explored. Who knew he’d end up needing them almost 40 years later.
So that is where he was holed up. In a clearing, like the BatCave but far smaller, of the maze like tunnels. He had managed to grab some basic stuff from the Cave before having to go into hiding. Unfortunately, a computer of some kind could not have been one of them. Barbara or Tim would have found him within the hour. He was smart and skilled with tech, but they were both on another level. It made Bruce really proud and really aggravated.
Right now Bruce needs to come up with a plan. He needs to find out how he’s going to find a UHE reader, where he’s going to get the tech to build Other Bruce something to get back, and most importantly, how he’s going to prove his innocence to everyone afterwards. Bruce can only hope that whatever plan he comes up with, it’ll go exactly to plan. Even if he knows it won’t, it never does.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Bruce was the worst father Dick has ever had. Bruce wasn’t the best, that was nothing new. Dick was his trial kid, he knew that, by the time Jason came around Bruce knew how to be a dad (or as much as any person could). Dick was taken in at a time when Bruce had not been planning to have kids, ever . When he was still deep in his unresolved trauma. When he was still figuring out how to be Batman. (I mean Bruce had only been Batman for 10 months at that point.) Then he took in a kid who was severely traumatized. A kid who had just watched his parents die in front of his eyes. A kid who was so angry at the world that he almost got himself killed. Dick’s not proud of who he was then, but he was a kid . He didn’t know any differently. And sure, they fought a lot as Dick got older, but Bruce tried his hardest to still be there even when they weren’t speaking. Dick may be a little angry that his siblings get a better version of Bruce as their father, but that’s not necessarily Bruce’s fault. Well it kinda is. But that’s all besides the point. The point is, Bruce is the worst father because he tried to kill his son. And not while under any kind of drug or mind control. And not while being impersonated. That was Bruce through and through. Dick would know, he’s lived and worked with Bruce for 16 years. The fact that Bruce suddenly snapped and decided to kill Damian was disturbing in more ways than one. But the “what if’s” are not important right now. Because Dick must now take up the role of Batman, just like when Bruce was lost in the timestream. I can never catch a fucking break, can I? Right now Dick is out patrolling Gotham. Tim is on Damian duty, because Damian still hasn't woken up. (I’m not sure I can handle another day with Damian comatosed. If he doesn't wake up soon, I might actually lose it.) Dick had seen the blood on his head but apparently it was worse than expected. Leslie said the head trauma was the reason Damian hadn’t woken up yet. He was stable though. Right now all of them were spread out across Gotham. Barbara was at the Clocktower, she hasn’t stopped trying to look for Bruce for the past three days. Jason returns to Crime Alley when he’s not watching all the others to quell his anxiety. Tim, Steph, and Duke have been cooped up in Dick’s temporary apartment in Gotham. Cass hops between his apartment and the Clocktower, she landed and got to Gotham two days ago and has been a godsend. And Damian is at Leslie’s, where he has been sleeping, and stable, and vulnerable and soft and weak and- They have a rotation, if Dick can’t be at Leslie’s for some reason then someone else will. This is just one of the many annoying things they’ve had to set up in the aftermath of it . Don’t get me fucking started on the media shitshow we had to go through to make sure no one knows. Their official story is that Bruce has decided that he wants his kids at home more. So he has pulled Damian and Duke into online classes, Dick has taken a bunch of paperwork and other logistics from the station to do while he’s on leave, Tim is doing all of his WE and GED work from home, Jason is still legally dead, and Steph is not a Wayne family member. So while they all hide out and wait for Bruce’s next move, their civilian identities have been taken care of. I wish we still had the Manor. Then I’d know that everyone is safe. Who knew that when your father tried to kill your brother it’s hard to return back home. But that’s enough daydreaming, Dick has to get back to patrol. Crime never rests, even when the Batman has turned to it. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Tim hasn’t stopped being suspicious since this all started. At first it was just a small doubt that everyone has. But the more Tim thinks about it, the more he’s sure he’s correct. It feels like the timestream shit all over again. Tim lets out a sigh and pushes out of the chair beside Damian’s cot. He starts pacing as he contemplates.
It wouldn’t be that far fetched that this was a different Bruce. Okay, lay out all the evidence. It clearly wasn’t an impersonation. Dick and Damian’s reactions say as much. They both know Bruce extremely well they would be able to tell. Then again, it could be a very good impersonation. Okay, so impersonation is not ruled out but highly unlikely.
What about a different universe version? That’s possible. We’ve had a couple encounters with alternate universes. But still, usually universes have differences great enough that it would have looked like an impersonation.
So maybe it was a future version of Bruce. But that brings up the concern of how he got like this. And if there are two Bruces, where are they? And why hasn’t their Bruce come out with the truth.
Tim’s giving himself a headache. But these suspicions are starting to be too hard to ignore. It would be great if he could talk to someone about all this. But… well… after everyone’s reactions to the timestream thing. Tim doesn't want to risk it. Even if they are more open after he was right. He… he just doesn't want to go through it all again. In the meantime, Tim will just play around with ideas. Once he’s settled, he’ll use patrol as an excuse to look for evidence. And Bruce. If Bruce knows that at least one person doesn't believe it’s actually him, then maybe he’ll let them help. Yah, that’s what I’ll do. It’ll work. It has to work. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sometimes, Jason wishes he was still under the Lazarus Pit’s influence. Then he wouldn’t have to be anxious so often. It would just be mindless, green, rage. Which wasn’t fun, but he could claim ignorance or whatever. Instead, Jason has to put up with his fa- mentor becoming a murderer and actually caring.
Jason’s not being a hypocrite. Sure he wanted Bruce to kill, but he only really meant the
Joker
. Not- not…
FUCKING
DAMIAN.
What the hell was Bruce on! I mean seriously who goes crazy like that. Bruce is an asshole and an incompetent mentor and father. But he has been trying, especially with Damian. Why would he throw it all away like this? Out of the blue.
Jason needs to calm down. He’s working himself up. And right now he needs to stay focused and in control. His family needs him to stick around. As much as he wishes he could run off and stay with Roy and Lian. That's not what's best for his family. And he’s been doing good by them, he actually feels like he’s started to become proper family. So, yes he does want to run away. But he won’t.
In the meantime, Jason will just hop from Red Hood work to Dick’s apartment. He’ll keep track of and protect his siblings. While making sure that the worst of Gotham doesn't think that just because Batman is gone they can have free reign. It’ll keep him busy for a while. And hopefully by the time it doesn't, everything will have been figured out. It just takes time. Jason just has to be patient.
Easier said than fucking done.
This is going to be a long couple of months.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Bruce stepped into the portal, he wasn’t planning on staying long. Nor was he planning to be seen by anyone other than Damian. He stepped through the portal and Lady Luck demonstrated her favor. Because not a minute later Damian in his old Robin uniform swung past. And Bruce follows.
He stays out of sight, slinking from shadow to shadow. It isn’t until Damian is standing on a rooftop, scouting out his next route, that Bruce strikes. He gives Damian no time to react. Immediately Bruce bodyslams Damian to the floor. A loud smack from his head hitting the concrete echoes through the night air. Bruce quickly retreats. And Damian quickly staggers to his feet, struggling to steady himself.
“Father?” It's so quiet and so unlike the Damian Bruce knows. But Bruce cannot back down. He may be a child now, but he will grow into a killer. And Bruce cannot have that. He cannot have his son turn everyone into League assassins. He cannot protect Gotham if his own son turns it over to Ra’s al Ghul.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He’s aware of how he sounds. Bruce
knows
how he sounds. But he’s seen what Damian can do. It all started with a visit from Ra’s. How Ra’s got close enough to Damian without Bruce knowing is still a mystery. But he heard what was said to Damian. Ra’s had promised him power. And all Damian needed to receive it, was control of Gotham.
It is laughable how easily Damian took Gotham away from Bruce. But he always knew what his son might be capable of with the right motivations. Bruce had just thought that those motivations would be rooted in his new family. In his new found goodness. And Bruce was wrong.
At first, it wasn’t noticeable. He was proud of Damian because, at the time, he had foolishly believed that Damian had chosen good. But it wasn’t too long before Bruce noticed things. Damian was becoming violent again, he had just a slight more edge to his attacks. Like he was no longer bothering to cover up his League training. He would disappear for periods of time, with strange excuses. Like he didn’t want Bruce to know where he was or what he was doing. Eventually there were too many small things to keep count. Then it happened.
After about a month of this, Bruce had encountered Damian whispering to Dick about something. As soon as Bruce had stepped into the room they went silent. Their expressions concerned him. They clearly were talking about him. And it didn’t stop with Dick. Over the next couple weeks Bruce had caught all of his children whispering with Damian about him. It needed to stop.
So while Damian was on patrol, Bruce gathered the rest of his children. “What has Damian been telling all of you?” Bruce would waste no time. He had already been sitting on his ass long enough.
“I don’t think we quite understand what you mean B,” Dick had volunteered after it became clear that no one else would say anything.
Dick’s statement was greeted with a sigh and an aggravated response of: “You know very well what I am talking about. You all have started whispering about me and I know Damian started it. So I will repeat myself just this once. What has Damian been telling all of you?”
His children stare back at him with looks of shock, fear, and concern. Jason is the first to speak up, “Holy shit… he has actually lost it.” With that all of his children start speaking over each other. Bruce can’t make out what any of them are saying.
“What is going on here?” and with those crisp words, the room goes silent. Everyone turns to see Damian in the doorway. Damian’s face scrunched in confusion. God, he hasn’t looked so young in years, Bruce misses that kid. When had he grown up? When had Damian turned into the very thing Bruce feared he would? When had Bruce failed another son?
Dick steps forward, hands outstretched in an aborted hug. “Dami, you were right,” it’s so quiet, Bruce almost doesn’t hear it. Damian clearly heard it. Because his eyes widen and his gaze locks with Bruce’s.
“I…” Damian trails off. He looks lost, he looks young. After a couple minutes of Damian searching for words, he settles on: “Father, are you feeling well?”
Bruce’s face now scrunches up in confusion. “I should be asking you that. Damian. Be honest with me. Have you decided to join your grandfather?”
The silence in the room is deafening. All Bruce can hear is his own breath and his pounding heartbeat. He’s scared. Bruce is terrified that his son will confirm what he already knows to be true.
“I can’t fucking believe you!” Tim’s anger has everyone turning. Tim has never been so boldly angry at Bruce. “How dare you accuse Damian of something like that! He has done nothing but try to prove himself to you since he arrived here. And you think that just because Ra’s has finally taken an interest in him again, he would throw that all away!? You think that he would abandon the only family that treated him right, that the only family that ever made sure he was truly safe!? Have you lost you fucking mind!?” Tim had slowly become more hysterical the longer he went on.
Bruce tries to reinstate control, “Tim, I-”
“No! Bruce what the fuck are you actually thinking!?” Tim is back on his tirade. “You don’t get to scold me for getting rightfully mad, hell Damian should be more pissed off then he clearly is. Since you don’t seem to want to actually use your brain, I’ll fucking spell it out for you.” Tim breathes deeply before he continues, “Damian. Is not. A fucking. Traitor. He never has and never will be to this family. And you know that Bruce.”
“I see he has gotten to all of you,” as soon as the words leave his mouth Bruce knows he made a mistake. Everyone in the room ignites with rage. They all yell at him. And Bruce watches as a smirk flickers on his youngest’s face. It is with that, Bruce knows he’s right. And no one can convince him otherwise.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Things became tense after that. He was constantly walking on eggshells around his kids. He decided that perhaps he was wrong. He would keep looking for evidence and listen to what his kids had to say. But things kept lining up too well. Everyone, especially Damian’s, behavior was just too perfect.
But what sealed his fate, and his family’s, happened when Bruce woke in the medical bay of the Cave. That patrol had been one of the few truly bad ones since Tim’s arrival into the family. While Batman was fighting Killer Croc, he’d taken the worst beating of his life. Batman was one of the only people on patrol and he was off his game. It was an unfortunate brush with death. Bruce doesn’t even remember the details.
But the fight wasn’t the important part. It was what happened in the medical bay afterwards that truly threw Bruce into the deep end and down into the place he has currently found himself.
Tim was the only other person in the room when Bruce awoke. He was looking at something and it had him anxious. He was chewing on his lip and brushing his hand along his pants every few seconds. When Tim noticed he was awake, he stopped.
“Bruce. We need to talk,” his voice shook despite his best efforts.
“It can wait until I’m less compromised,” Bruce groaned as he sat up. “I just woke up and I’m not in a great mental state to be of use.”
Tim shook his head rapidly, “God, B. I wish you would just shut up and listen. This has to do with your life! Your health and well being and your continued time in the land of the living depend on it!” Tim was crying. Bruce’s smartass, genius son was actually crying.
“Tim please, it’s not the end of the world-”
“YOU’RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE B!!!” Tim was sobbing as he collapsed to the floor. Bruce was stunned, he couldn’t move.
“Son, I promise, whatever it is, it’ll be okay,” He couldn’t promise that. Not in this line of work. He knows an incident like this will happen again. But he had to say something.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Now he just needs to convince his younger self that Damian’s death means good for the future. Except it is so clear that he obviously believes that Bruce did something to deserve it. If Bruce cannot convince his younger self then all hope will be lost. He cannot allow himself to be sent back. Not without younger Damian being killed. And Bruce will make sure that it happens. With or without younger Bruce’s help.