It's never too late to make things right
Chapter 1
Wayne Manor
Bruce Wayne recently got home to Wayne Manor after hanging out with his spoiled rich friends at random clubs. It was late at night and Bruce wasn't even sure what time it was. He felt very tired and his head was hurting from all of the partying he was doing throughout most of the day. Bruce decided to go into his father's study and lay down on the couch until his headache stopped. He wasn't sure if it was just a hangover from all the alcohol he drank earlier or from the loud music that was playing non-stop at the clubs. Either way Bruce really didn't care, because he was now on his own and he felt very unsure of himself. At this point he had no confidence or motivation and was now a lost soul with no purpose and it was all, because Bruce pushed away the only family he had left in his life.
Things have not been the same in the past few days for Bruce Wayne ever since he fired Alfred. He didn't want to believe it, because the whole thing felt like a dream to him, but in reality it wasn't. Bruce pushed away the only family he had left in his life and he had no one to blame, but himself. Either way Bruce really didn't want to think about it, but no matter how hard he tried to forget about it, the memory would always come back to him. Even when Bruce wakes up in the morning he can still remember the last thing he said to his former butler before throwing him out on to the streets.
"ALFRED YOU'RE FIRED, NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE." Those were the exact words that Bruce Wayne said to Alfred Pennyworth and it still haunts him to this very day.
Sure there were other things that bothered Bruce such as how he failed to protect Alex Winthrop. Bruce sometimes has nightmares at night where he would re-live the moment of seeing Alex die at the hands of Ra's Al Ghul. What made Bruce feel guiltier about it was that he hesitated, because he wouldn't hand over the dagger to Ra's, which ended up costing Alex's life. Bruce blamed himself for that, because Alex trusted him and the fact that he wouldn't cooperate with Ra's made it even worse. If Bruce had just given Ra's the dagger than none of this would've happened and Alex would still be alive, but he's not and its why Bruce still blames himself for that.
This isn't the first time that Bruce failed to protect someone he cared about. Every time he thought about the death of Alex, he was reminded about how his actions cost the life of Karen Jennings to. Bruce still remembers it like it was yesterday and that was also something he had a hard time getting over, because he still blamed himself for her death. Karen was one of Hugo Strange's experiments at Pinewood Farms. Bruce's father Thomas Wayne helped Karen go into hiding after he found out about Professor Strange's experiments at Pinewood Farms and then shut down the facility. When Bruce found Karen outside of Gotham City at old an house he promised to keep her safe if she helped him with finding out more about Hugo Strange's experiments at Pinewood Farms. Unfortunately, it did not end well, because Professor Strange sent Victor Fries to kill her. Karen Jennings ultimately sacrificed herself in order to prevent Bruce from getting killed in the crossfire. Bruce watched in horror as Victor used his freeze gun to put Karen on ice and then he shattered her into tiny pieces. He still remembers her final words that she said to him before being killed.
"I'm so glad I met you Bruce. Your father would be very proud of the man you've become." Those were Karen Jennings last words to Bruce Wayne before she sacrificed herself.
The memory of her death still haunts him even to this very day. No matter how hard Bruce tried to help others they always ended up paying the price for his mistakes. The one thing that really bothered Bruce the most was that he broke his promise to never kill anyone. Throughout his entire journey of finding his parent's killer and uncovering the mystery behind it all Bruce at point promised himself to never take a life. Despite wanting revenge he knew deep down that it will not solve anything and it will only cause more suffering. For a while Bruce was able to keep his promise, but it did not last long, especially after everything he's been through. Ra's Al Ghul manage to manipulate Bruce into killing him with the dagger just so he can finally, die after years of living with immortality.
To be fair Bruce has been in similar situations where he almost killed someone before like when he pointed a gun at Matches Malone or the time he fought Jerome Valeska. The only difference was that Bruce chose not to kill either of them, because he knew it wasn't right to take a life. If that's the case than why did Bruce decide to kill Ra's, what made this situation different than the previous scenarios. Was Alex's death really all it took to break Bruce's promise or was it, because Ra's threaten to kill everyone Bruce loves and cares about? Either way Bruce wasn't sure anymore and he really did not care, because everything he worked so hard on up to this point has all gone down the drain.
As Bruce continued to laydown on the couch silently he looked over to where the fireplace was and above it he saw a picture of his parents hanging on the wall. He looked at it for a few seconds and then quickly turned away, because Bruce was ashamed of himself. Bruce personally felt that he failed not only himself, but also his parents as well. He didn't deserve to be their son or be called a Wayne, because Bruce thinks that he is nothing, but a disappointment to the family. It doesn't help the fact that Bruce has done nothing, but push away those who care about him such as Alfred, Gordon, Selina, and Lucius due to his selfish behavior. Was this really Bruce's destiny, to live a miserable life of being alone everyday while getting drunk with a bunch of rich snobs at random clubs each night. Would anybody really miss Bruce if he was gone.
Maybe Bruce isn't meant to become the hero of Gotham or save it from corruption, because it seems like the city itself is only getting worse everyday. Bruce didn't want to think about it anymore, so he closed his eyes and after a few minutes he fell asleep while laying on the couch. During the first hour Bruce was able to sleep peacefully until eventually, his mind began to drift off into the realms of dreams. During his dream Bruce realized that he was standing around nothing, but darkness. For some reason a strange fog appeared out of nowhere and it made Bruce feel uncomfortable. Suddenly he heard footsteps and as Bruce listened carefully the sound got closer to where he was standing. He then saw two dark figures walking towards him and that's when Bruce decided to speak in order to find out who the two individuals were.
"Hello…..whoever you two are I'm not afraid of you so show yourselves." Bruce said to the two shadowy figures in the distance, but they did not answer back.
When the two dark figures finally revealed themselves to Bruce he couldn't believe who were standing in front of him. It was his parents Thomas and Martha Wayne, but how is that possible. Bruce was speechless as he saw both of his parents for the first time ever since they died and he didn't know what to say to them.
"I never wanted this for you." Thomas said to Bruce
"We never wanted any of this for you Bruce." Martha said to her son
"Mom, dad, I don't understand what do you mean?" Bruce asked while feeling confused.
"We're so sorry son." Both parents said at the same time to Bruce.
After that Thomas and Martha Wayne turned around and walked away from their son. Bruce tried to run after them, but they immediately disappeared into the fog.
"WAIT, mother, father, no please don't leave me again." Bruce begged them to come back, but he was too late.
Bruce finally, woke up from his bad dream and noticed that it was morning already, because he saw the sun shining through the window. He got up from the couch and went to the bathroom to splash some water in his face, because he was feeling very shaken up from his nightmare. During that same moment he quickly looked at himself in the mirror and saw nothing, but a young man who is truly lost.
"What am I suppose to do? No one should have to live like this for the rest of their life. I don't even know who I am anymore." Bruce thought to himself.
Hey guys so with only three episodes left of Gotham's final season I decided to write a new fanfiction as a tribute to both the show and to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the character Batman. This story is going to be based off the second half of season 4 from episodes 12-15. I don't want to give away any major spoilers, but all I can say is that it takes place in the same alternate timeline with my first Gotham fanfiction called "GOTHAM'S HOPE". The only difference is that this takes place before the events of "GOTHAM'S HOPE" so I'm sorry if it sounds confusing. Keep in mind that I don't consider any of this canon, because it's an alternate timeline so I just wanted to make sure you knew that as well. Anyways please let me know what you guys think so far and if you have any suggestions on what you want to see in the story leave it in the reviews. Special thanks to Jak Pickens, Phillipe363, and angelamorales514 for helping me with writing this story. I highly recommend you check out their fanfictions, because they're very good writers and storytellers to. Thank you very much for reading this and I hope you have a good day.