Okay I never really do this so don't get used to it, but I know a lot of my readers, especially the shipper fans, wanted the ending to be something different for Stains of Time. This alternate ending is actually pretty much the original ending I had planned. Yeah, I originally wanted Batman to live when I first started writing the story, but thought (and still stand by it) him dying was a more appropriate ending to the story. Nonetheless when I finished, I planned on some time publishing the originally planned, alternate happy ending, for the BMWW fans. I then thought of a creative twist to throw in at the very end as well to make this not your typical alternate ending story.

Unfortunately, I kept putting it off and couldn't find a right time to do it. But then, as all of you may know, that BvS trailer came out and it seemed appropriate for us BMWW fans, after living in the wilderness for awhile.

Basically this alternate ending pretty much follows the rest of the story except take out the last chapter (not the epilogue where Bruce defeats Hades but the chapter where the League mourns his passing and moves on). This alternate ending happens after the epilogue where Bruce triumphs over his nemesis Hades in limbo and the entire chapter of the League moving on and mourning his passing didn't occur. Hope you enjoy.

Bruce stared at the spot where Hades had vanished before turning back around. All the souls of his friends and loved ones that had come to help him were standing in front of the Monarch Theater.

"Like I said earlier," Reverend Stiles said calmly as he stepped forward. "We've been waiting for you."

Bruce and the Reverend hugged. Quietly and slowly, Bruce began to make his way through the souls of his friends. He gave a curt nod to Azrael and Anthro before slapping the hand of a grinning Bart. Helena and Gwen both came up and kissed him simultaneously on each cheek. Bill and Sheriff O'Hara took off their hats in reverence as he passed them.

"Come here!" Jimmie said happily as he and Peter both hugged their friend.

As he hugged the two members of the Saunders family, Bruce looked up and made eye contact with a grinning Jonah Hex who winked at him. Bruce smiled back as he broke away and stepped closer to the theater doors, only to almost run into Batmite.

"I missed you!" Batmite cried happily and gave Bruce a big cartoonish kiss.

"MWAHHH!"

Bruce couldn't help but smile a little and then he realized he was only a few feet from the entrance of the theater.

"We're proud of you Bruce…" a deep familiar voice echoed from the bright light inside the theater.

Bruce stared at the white light in shock and thought he saw a familiar silhouette.

"Dad?" Bruce whispered in nervous anticipation.

"It's okay Honey," a female voice called out. "You're safe now."

Bruce realized there were now two silhouettes waiting for him. Feeling nervous for a second, Bruce then felt relief and began to head towards the white light. Behind him, all the souls who had helped him defeat Hades, disappeared. However in the background, one ghostly image still remained.

The soul of Metron, still sitting in his chair, watched as Bruce slowly began to head towards the white light.

"The story is over," Metron noted. "But the adventure continues..."

Watchtower-2009

"It's okay," Diana hushed as she held back a shuddering Superman. She could feel his strength slowly weakening and he had stopped resisting her. A part of Diana wished they could block the window so the others wouldn't have to see Superman break down like this, but that wouldn't be fair, especially to Dick and the Batfamily. They, out of all people, had a right to be here.

"He's gone," she repeated and slowly let go of him so she could wrap one arm around his massive shoulders to embrace him. "Let it go."

For a second Diana thought Superman didn't hear her and got ready to try to say something else encouraging, but then she saw him bow his head and cry a little.

"You did all you could. You gave him everything you had," Diana assured, fighting the urge to start crying again as well. However, as Diana got ready to escort Superman out, she noticed his head had slowly lifted back up. His radiant eyes were stained with tears, but they had a mad look of stubborn determination along with the rest of his face. He glared at the lifeless body of Bruce as if he wanted to burn it with his heat vision.

"Not everything," Superman whispered hoarsely. "Not yet."

And before Diana could protest, Superman broke free from her embrace and rushed towards the dead body.

"He wouldn't give up on me and I'm not going to give up on him!"

Superman then began to repeatedly pound Bruce's chest to start his heart.

"Kal no! You can't do this!"

"Yes I can!" Superman shouted back and his beating of Batman's chest became less rhythmic with his frustration. This time, Diana didn't possess the energy to stop one of her friends from damaging the body of another. Instead, she just stood there in disbelief helplessly as the urge to cry took over again. She couldn't keep her composure anymore. No one could right now.

On the other side of the isolation bay, the group watched in horror and disbelief as the Man of Steel unleashed his anger and frustration on Bruce's body. Many of them cringed in pain at the sound of Superman's thumps on Bruce's chest. A few of them anticipated any minute Superman's restraint wouldn't hold back his strength anymore, and he would unintentionally punch through Bruce's chest. But like Diana, all of them felt powerless and just watched the heartbreaking scene unfold before them. Finally though, Barbara had enough and voiced her opinion.

"Someone stop him!" she complained.

"If Diana couldn't hold him back, I don't think any of us can," John argued.

"But she's right," Flash agreed. "He's going to hurt Bruce-I mean, you know what I mean."

Dick however remained fixed on watching Superman's foolhardy attempts to revive Bruce. Unlike the others who remained uncomfortable watching Superman lose his cool and beat Bruce like a punching bag, he remained focused and had his eyes glued to the entire scene, unwilling to blink.

"Come back, Old Man," Dick chanted under his breath. "Don't give up on us yet."

"Work with me Bruce!" Superman yelled as he had started beating the chest slightly harder. "I only probably have thirty seconds left!"

"Kal enough," Diana warned. "Or I'll-"

"Give me just a little more time!" Superman demanded. It wasn't a request. The Kryptonian gnarled his teeth as sweat dripped from his face. He took a deep breath and resumed his attempts to revive Bruce. At this point, he had elected to only use one hand which was a closed fist and used all his restrained strength to bring it down like a hammer. He then kept repeating the process that it looked more like he was hitting Bruce out of anger rather than an attempt to save him.

"Clark this is insanity! You'll break his ribs!"

"He's broken all his bones at least once, he'll make it!"

Superman still hit Bruce's chest as the heart rate monitor flatlined in the background.

"Bruce!" Superman yelled.

He extended his hand out to the light. It felt warm although he wasn't sure he was able to feel. Turning around, he realized all those that had come to his aid had disappeared, leaving him alone in the abyss on the other side of the threshold of light.

"Don't be afraid..." the angelic voice of his mother said. He could still see her silhouette on the other side next to his father's. Feeling ill at ease, Bruce got ready to take a step forward when he heard a voice call out.

"Bruce!"

The voice seemed faint, yet it echoed all around the abyss. He couldn't recognize it. Immediately, he noticed the world around him started to shake again.

"What's happening?" Bruce asked nervously. Had Hades returned for another round?

"You have to make a choice, Son," the voice of his father explained. The light started going dimmer by the second.

"You have good friends and people that love you still out there trying to save you," his mother's voice reminded. "In death or life, you're never alone."

"But you have to make the choice soon," his father emphasized. "Stay, or move on?"

"I can't leave you again!" Bruce protested.

"You never did leave us Honey," Martha encouraged.

"I let you both die," Bruce dismissed.

"And how do you think your friends feel right now?" she shot back. "Can you begrudge them for trying to save you as well?"

Bruce couldn't respond to that. He never could argue with her.

"Your friends and yourself have saved the day. Would it be too terrible for you to be rewarded, just once?"

The light had shrunken down further and he could barely make it out. Time was running out.

"The choice is yours," his father reminded. "Not many people get that opportunity when their life is in the balance."

"But you have to ask yourself," his mother added on. "Are you sure there's nothing in life you wouldn't want to go back to before you die?"

"Clark I will use this if I have to!" Diana warned and got her lasso ready. Superman remained undeterred by her threat as he resumed his beating of Batman's chest.

"I'm serious!" Diana promised.

"I'm not finished yet," Superman muttered and continued to beat the chest in frustration.

"You have five seconds!" Diana ordered.

"Come on..."

"Five..."

"Live damn you!"

"Four..."

"You're too stubborn to die! I know you!"

"Three..."

"Wake up!"

"Two..."

"Come on, wake up you bastard!" Superman yelled and he brought his fist down one final time on his friend's chest.

"One..."

"YAAKKK!" the lifeless body of Bruce suddenly choked. Immediately the monitor started beeping.

"Yes!" Superman shouted gleefully. "He's alive! HAHAHAHA!"

Diana froze in disbelief at what she had just witnessed. Despite everyone going against him, Superman had done the unimaginable! He had brought Bruce back to the brink of death! Shocked, Diana stared at her lasso and dropped it. She couldn't believe she had doubted Superman. Meanwhile Bruce's eyes began to flutter open as the beeping began to steady out.

"He's waking!" Superman shouted.

"You don't have to be so loud..." Bruce croaked weakly.

"Yes!" Superman cheered and pulled his arms around Bruce tightly. The man coughed in surprise and Diana heard his heart rate monitor pick up a little. Before she could try to pry away a tearfully happy Superman away from Batman, the door burst open. It was like chaos personified had been unleashed. Everyone had rushed into the tiny isolation room to join Superman in the euphoric celebrations as well. Luckily, the radiation had long been dispensed, but that probably wouldn't have stopped them anyways. Dick was the first one to reach Bruce and somehow managed to get Superman off of the recently revived man despite possessing no super strength.

"I told you that you'd make it!" Dick cried happily. "And you thought you were going to die."

"For once you were right in your life, Richard," Bruce retorted. "Don't gloat too much."

Babara meanwhile was on his other side kissing him on the cheek. His hand had somehow found Tim's. Zatanna made brief eye contact with him and gave a little wink.

"I think I speak for all of us," Alfred croaked as he had somehow mustered his iconic regal poise again. "Welcome back, Master Bruce."

"Good job Supes!" Flash said enthusiastically and slapped Superman on the back. He was crying like most of the rest.

"Move it or lose it!" a voice ordered as Shayera was wheeled in by a very ecstatic John. Bruce leaned up in curiosity and noticed the three children in her arms.

"I'm so pissed your back," Shayera joked. "I already named the one on the left after you."

"It's a good name," Bruce responded. "No need to regret it."

"Still full of yourself as ever huh?" John noted.

Bruce then looked and made eye contact back with Clark.

"Thanks, Clark," he said with all his heart.

"It's what friends are for," Superman shot back. "I guess that makes us even."

"I'm pretty sure I still have two up on you."

Superman laughed again. As the buzz and happiness continued to spill out over the room, the Martian could sense all the emotions without having to read minds. It almost overloaded him, but he didn't care. For once, it seemed fate had given him and the others a chance. But J'onn could sense something else among the tsunami of strong emotions in the room. He felt fear and apprehension. Puzzled, he turned around and noticed unlike the others, Diana had remained off to the side and stood awkwardly in the corner. At first J'onn thought she had isolated herself for feeling guilty about trying to stop Superman, but then he noticed the look on her face. As if she finally realized he was staring at her, Diana's gaze turned towards the alien and they made eye contact. J'onn didn't need to read her mind to know what she wanted to ask him.

"Everyone," J'onn spoke. "I know we're all happy Bruce is back, but he needs time to rest and recover. I propose we head to the Monitor Womb. Mister Terrific and the others should get an update."

"I'll stay and watch him," Superman volunteered.

"It's okay Kal," Diana interjected, seizing the opportunity. "I got this."

Superman wanted to protest further but Alfred had placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It is alright Master Kent. You've already done a lot for our family. I will see if there are any refreshments up here that I could use to make something. It is breakfast Gotham time I believe."

"I want pancakes!" Tim said eagerly as Zatanna helped show him out. Pretty soon, the room was almost empty except for Dick, Superman, and Diana. Dick stopped at the doorway and looked back at Bruce.

"I'll have Alfred bring some food up to you," he offered before leaving. Superman then made to follow Dick but found Bruce gripping his wrist to stop him. Superman looked back down at him.

"Remember Kent, Lois is an incredible woman. Don't screw it up again," he warned. Slightly bewildered, Superman nodded in agreement and walked out with the door shutting behind him. Bruce then looked to see Diana still standing on the other side staring guiltily at him.

"You tried to stop him from restarting my heart, didn't you?" Bruce noted sharply. Despite being legally dead for awhile, it seemed the World's Greatest Detective still had his observant nature and wits. Before Diana could open her mouth and say anything, Bruce stopped her.

"Don't worry about it, I would've been the same way. What he pulled off was the impossible."

"But we all doubted him," Diana pointed out.

"I would've too. But that's what makes him Superman. He's too thick headed to realize when he's fighting against reality."

Diana chuckled at that.

"Thank you for doing this," Bruce offered. "I know not many of them would've done what it took to destroy the Omega Sanction. You saved the world."

"I didn't do it for the world," Diana admitted and she finally walked closer to the bed. "I did it for you."

She then sat gently on the bed and found herself feeling more nervous with anticipation. The fates had given her another opportunity, but she didn't know what to say.

"Bruce, you had something you wanted to say to me before you passed out?" she whispered uncertainly even though she knew deep down what it was. Bruce stared back at her quizzically and Diana for a second feared that maybe he had forgotten. Immediately, she felt like she had made a mistake and needed to do something to quickly de-escalate the situation. But, before she could say anything, Bruce had spoke again.

"I don't remember what really happened after I blacked out," Bruce admitted. "It's all a blur. But I do remember a light, and something else."

"What was it?" Diana asked curiously. It was alien for her to hear Bruce talk about metaphysical things like the afterlife due to his usual cynical, atheist nature.

"I don't know," Bruce admitted. "It's all a blur, but I remember something. Just one phrase and that was it. Maybe I was just hallucinating or am suffering from oxygen deprivation, but I remembered one statement and that seemed to bring me back."

"What?" Diana asked as she leaned in. She was unable to hide her interest in what he had to say.

"I am not alone," Bruce revealed.

Diana smiled at that and held his hand in both of hers.

"Of course you aren't," she assured. "You never were. You will always have Clark, Alfred, Dick, and the others."

"That's not just it," Bruce continued. "There's something else."

Diana unconsciously had found herself inching towards his face and he didn't seem to mind. Yet, she expected one of them at the last second to blink or flinch. Neither had cracked though and continued the game of chicken.

"When I kept falling forward through time..." Bruce admitted and Diana could hear the heart rate monitor picking up slightly in the background. He was nervous about what he was saying, but Diana could tell her getting closer and closer to him seemed to also cause it to increase. She couldn't help but feel a little victorious there.

"There was only one constant thing that kept me sane. I didn't have all my memories back until I was near the end. I only had one memory for most of the time that prevented me from getting lost into the abyss. One broken memory that made me know I was never alone."

"And what was that?" she whispered. At this point, her nose could touch his if she budged any further. At the time however, she found herself staring at his blue eyes that usually showed conceited confidence, but instead revealed apprehensive acceptance this time.

"It was you," Bruce admitted. "You were the one thing I remembered. Whenever I was in a dark moment, I always had memories of you which I didn't understand at the time to get me through. It seems maybe my head or heart was trying to tell me something. Something that I should've told you on the day we fought Darkseid."

"Yes?" Diana asked as a smile had begun to grow on her lips.

"I-I love you Diana," he whispered back. "I love you and I don't want to leave-MMMMPH!"

Diana had seized on the moment and forced a passionate kiss on Bruce. With one hand, she went behind his head and help him sit up more to support his neck. Despite catching him off guard, he quickly reacted and started returning the kiss back. She felt her whole body electrified by the kiss. His chest was up against hers and she was surprised at how warm he already was despite being dead earlier. The heart rate monitor had been beeping so loud and frantically, it had become white noise to Diana and she ignored it. After all this time, she had finally found him again and they were together for good. He had revealed his heart to her and now she was free. Eventually, the two broke away and stared back at each other. Diana was now fully on the bed and on top of Bruce, using her free hand to provide support. She looked into Bruce's eyes as he laid back down in the bed with her over him. He absentmindedly with his right hand placed it on her face. The Amazon welcomed his warm touch.

"You know this is the part where you say 'I love you too,'" Bruce noted. Diana responded with a playful punch to his shoulder.

"That kiss wasn't enough for you?"

"Let me hear you say it," Bruce requested in a gentle, playful tone. Diana smirked at him.

"Out of all the most arrogant, stubborn fools I've ever met, I love you the most."

"You forgot brilliant," he bantered back. Diana again playfully punched him.

"I should let you rest."

She then made to get up but found him gripping her hands tightly again.

"Stay with me?" he asked.

Diana laughed at the deja vu she had just experienced.

"Of course," she assured and proceeded to lie in bed next to him. At that moment, she realized she needed rest too and draped her arm around him.

"You know, I really did miss you," Bruce assured after he let out a yawn.

"It's alright Bruce, I missed you too."

ZZZZZSSKSKSKSKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAHHHHHHHHHHKKKKKK

Everything goes to black. In the darkness, someone steps forward. The figure wears a blue robe and a hat that casts a shadow over his white eyes. He looks up and stares back.

"What you just saw was a possible reality; a reality where Batman lived after stopping the Near Apocalypse of '09," the stranger explains. "Unfortunately, it was only a possible reality, not what happened to the poor Batman of my universe."

Images of the Justice League burying Bruce into the grave in Gotham cemetery briefly flash behind him.

"But regardless, Batman living or dying doesn't change the great peril I find my reality in now. Although Batman saved the Multiverse, the universe he and I are from is still doomed. With time travel, not only do you get the concept of possible realities, but some deeper and more complex things than even Metron didn't quite understand. Most envision time as a one dimensional line. It is not that. Nor is it two dimensional."

As he explains, a white line appears behind him and begins to turn into a square and then a cube.

"Time is a like a 3-D cube if you were to conceptualize it. It has depth as well," he admits. "You change something on a timeline, it could send a ripple or crack throughout time and space to events unrelated to the actual change. You change one thing, you allow something simultaneously across time and space to be changed as well."

The cube quickly evaporates into smoke as an image of a stone falling into a lake plays.

"As the stone is tossed in the water, you only see the linear effects of the ripples. But doesn't the stone also add more volume to the water, no matter how insignificant, and slightly displaces it? That is why changing time is dangerous. Metron took a gamble to save the Multiverse, but at an unexpected cost. His meddling had sent a crack throughout the depths of time in my universe that now puts it in danger again."

Behind the Phantom Stranger, a space battle plays out over what looks like a wall carved with many faces.

"Metron unknowingly allowed a crack of time to appear in a future that no longer exists. While that timeline has been erased, something managed to fall through that crack. Now the entire universe finds itself facing another great threat. The very existence we know could be rewritten."

The replays of the battle fade away as the Stranger too begins to fade away in darkness.

"Time travel won't save my universe this time. To save the future, I must put my faith in the present. I have a plan that can save us all. It is a desperate plan full of variables outside my control, but it's the only chance. In order to implement this plan, I'll need to enlist the aid of Superman, Wonder Woman, and many others. You're more than welcome to watch."

Coming in 2017; the long awaited sequel, Depths of Time, will start being published. It has been five years since Bruce's last minute return and sacrifice to save the cosmos and his friends. The Justice League and the Batclan have moved on with their lives and continue to fight the good fight. However, an unanticipated consequence in the timeline puts the world and universe in danger. As Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman II deal with their own respective struggles, they remain unaware how connected their conflicts are. Nor do they know that in the far reaches of space, a vengeful enemy is manipulating everything behind the scenes as he gets ready to put his plan of revenge into action against Superman and the world. But even this enemy remains oblivious to the darker forces at work that will rewrite the timeline of the universe itself.

Starring

Superman/Clark Kent

Wonder Woman/Diana of Themyscira

Batman II/Dick Grayson

Vandal Savage

Abaddon/Kalibak

Superboy/Connor Kent

Lashina

Tom Tresser

St. Dumas

with the Phantom Stranger

and Lobo, the Main Man

Yes I'm a tease. But if it means that much to you, you can go ahead and pretend the happy, if not a little sappy, BMWW ending is the true ending of Stains of Time and the story ends there. Everything that happens in the officially published last chapter (Vandal Savage being forgiven, Waller told to start Batman Beyond, etc.) still happens but Bruce was alive instead. That was how it originally was going to be before I tweaked it after making the decision to kill off Bruce.

However as far as I'm concern, the sad ending is the canon one because I like it better and it also plays into the sequel. Note, I usually despise sequels but this idea came to me when I was about halfway through the story and liked it because it was an opportunity to shift the focus from Bruce to Clark now. Although Depths will be a sequel, it will be a Superman story like how Stains was a Batman story.

And don't worry about Out of the Flames. The story will continue to be written. Goal is to try to update one chapter a month so hopefully by 2017 I should only have three chapters left.

Last but not least, feel free to review if you choose to do so.