It's All Relative
Prologue: Random Memories and an Awkward Goodbye
By Teala373
Summary:Batman Beyond/Alternate Reality – What if Batman Beyond wasn't set as far in the future? What if Terry was somehow related to Bruce? Terry unwittingly reunites the broken bat family as they solve the mystery of Barbara Gordon's disappearance and Terry's own wayward family.
Author Notes:This is not set as far into the future as the show. Bruce is only in his late fifties. This is heavy revised from my original try with this fic and is only LOOSELY based on several continuities – inaccuracies are for dramatic purposes.
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"Barbara? Mr. Wayne invited us over to dinner Friday night. Would you like to go?"
"Sure! I'm always up for Alfred's cooking! I hope he makes chocolate cake for dessert!"
"I'm sure he will, but that's not the only reason we're going over. I want to introduce you to Mr. Wayne's ward."
"What's a ward?"
"Well, a ward is a young person who has, well let's say been adopted. Bruce took in a young boy, about your age, who lost his parents."
"Is it the boy from the circus?"
"Yes, honey."
"Is he going to live with Mr. Wayne forever?"
"That's the plan, for now. He's going to be in your class next fall and I thought it would be nice if you got to know him and…"
"…help him not be sad anymore?"
"Exactly. You're a little too smart for me, sometimes, you know that?"
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Ted Kord no longer had any family or civilian friends close enough that would warrant a second funeral. He barely existed, except on paper. At the end, he was the head of I.T. for the Themyscerian embassy. He had very little contact with the other employees or vendors. His main contact was with the princess and the oracle.
That being his situation, there was no need for two funerals: one for regular citizens who knew him as Ted Kord and then one private ones for those who knew him as the Blue Beetle. There only had to be one private funeral.
It was a small funeral. Ted had mostly kept to himself in his short term with the Justice League. He worked on smaller, solo assignments. When he worked in a group, it was mostly as a driver and back up. For non-flying superheroes, he offered them transport in his custom flying vehicle, the bug, when the Javelin was otherwise occupied.
He had retired his alter ego early in the game due to a permanent knee injury. The pin allowed him to walk normally, but Wonder Woman had felt he shouldn't risk more serious damage. Wonder Woman was infamous for instigating resignation and termination of Justice League members. Ted Kord's had been a little different, though.
He was quiet, but sincere. He was good with computers and technology in general. Wonder Woman offered him a position at the Themescyran embassy. Normally, she didn't find alternatives for those asked to leave, regardless of circumstance. It was assumed she made this exception only because it fit her own purpose.
That's how Batman came to know more of Ted Kord. Ted's technological prowess attracted the attention of Barbara Gordon, whom Ted only knew as Oracle, the former Batgirl. They worked on technical assignments together over their systems and enjoyed talking shop. They had been working on files for a case of Wonder Woman's when Barbara disappeared. Oracle was declared permanently offline until further notice. Ted continued the assignment solo and it had cost him his life.
Batman stood silently among the other super heroes as Wonder Woman delivered a poignant eulogy. She was normally more straightforward. He found her display of such emotion odd. The only emotions he had ever really seen her display were anger and disgust. Except for one brief moment in time when he had known her on a more intimate level, everything else was stated matter-of-factly.
Maybe it was guilt.
He felt slightly uncomfortable. No one was surprised that he had come, but he knew his presence caused concern. Would he and Wonder Woman have an argument? She had been the most vocal in having him thrown out of the Justice League. He didn't want to argue with her. He only wanted to pay his respects. They didn't have anything to discuss. He was working on Barbara's disappearance. She had neatly rounded up Ted's murderers and closed the entire case. She had sent him all the case files in the event it somehow tied into Barbara's disappearance.
Ted Kord hadn't known that Oracle's real name was Barbara Gordon. He only knew that Oracle was the same person who had been Batgirl. Wonder Woman knew her identity as she knew Bruce's. Most Leaguers didn't know the others' identity. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part, it was an unofficial rule.
Only Batman and Wonder Woman knew the true identity of every single member. It wasn't for security purposes. It was just because they did. Batman needed to be in control. He didn't like to be surprised. He liked to know as much as he could. Apparently, so did Wonder Woman. She had tried to recruit Barbara away from him after she had him thrown out of the League. That had annoyed him.
"Tragedy about Ted," the Flash came up beside him, "his first time back in the field and he gets shot. Why would he go on such a dangerous run with no back up?"
"The file states that the run wasn't supposed to be dangerous. He was just picking up a computer disk from a contact. He hadn't told Wonder Woman about it. She claims he wasn't thinking clearly due to personal problems. He was also working without Oracle, his partner," came Batman's automatic reply.
"Yeah," Flash shifted from foot to foot as he stared at some imaginary point on the ground, "I, uh, heard he had a real thing for her… even though he had never met her face to face - only a handful of times as Batgirl. What, um, what happened to Oracle, anyway?"
Batman had to choose his next words carefully. He had to make sure not to link Oracle's disappearance with Barbara's. As the daughter of the former Gotham Police Commissioner and the long time girlfriend of Bruce Wayne's ward, her disappearance had attracted quite a bit of media attention.
"I am unaware of the reason for Oracle's departure."
Flash found a new imaginary spot to stare at. "She couldn't even drop you a line?"
"I didn't say she just up and vanished. I am saying that she stopped, but I don't know what her reasons are."
"So, she gave some sort of resignation?"
Batman narrowed his eyes from behind his mask. Sometimes Flash asked too many questions. "She didn't work for me. She worked with me."
Flash could tell from the tone of his voice he was becoming irritated. "I'm just making some small talk. I haven't seen you in a while and it's not like I can exactly ask you personal questions."
"You are asking me personal questions."
"Yeah, but they're about Batman, not your true identity," Flash sighed. He liked Batman, but always had a rough time talking to him, "it's not like I can ask you how the kids are or if you've been vacationing with Mrs. Batman."
It was now Batman's turn to sigh. "You've always been a little too social, Flash."
"Yeah, yeah, well if we were all like Wonder Woman, no one would be in the league any more because we'd all be kicking each other out."
Batman afforded himself a small smile.
"So anyway," Flash continued, finding an imaginary spot on the ground again, "I-I feel really bad about Ted. I mean, he was a great guy, but he was such a loner. He didn't really socialize much. Never knew of a girlfriend or any family. Wonder Woman said he didn't really have any friends – just kept to himself. All he did was work on his machines. He gets all smitten over Oracle then she goes AWOL and he gets shot. It's just… sad… Maybe I should've visited him or asked him for a ride in the bug. I should've been a better friend. He was a fellow Leaguer. I should have seen that he didn't have anyone…"
"He had Wonder Woman and Oracle. I also saw him on occasion."
"Yeah, but, he really didn't have much of a life," Flash began a round of general fidgeting, "All he did was maintain computers for the embassy. Totally lame. If I was more of a friend, I might have been able to help him with his assignment… provide him backup."
"You can't blame yourself, Flash."
"I know, I just... feel bad for him. I wish he could've enjoyed life more."
"Maybe he was perfectly content with the life he had."
"I dunno…"
Wonder Woman was making her way over to them. Batman braced himself for a round of scathing comments.
"Flash, would you excuse us? I would like to speak with Batman."
"Uh, sure thing. Later, Bats!" Speeding away in a red blur, Flash zipped up behind Superman and gave him bunny ears while he talked to Martian Manhunter.
"What can I do for you, Princess," Batman was careful with his tone. He wasn't in the mood for an argument.
The Princess Diana of Themyscyra, known also as Wonder Woman, had already put away whatever emotional feelings were present during the eulogy. She was back to her usual stoic self. "Aquaman contacted me just before the service saying he could not attend. He had an important matter to investigate."
"Is that so?" He wasn't sure why she was telling him this.
"Yes," she continued, "will you come with me to visit him when we have finished here?"
Batman eyed her suspiciously. "Why?" He no longer watched his tone. Her behavior was highly unusual.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before continuing. "He is testing some items he discovered to see if they are evidence."
"Evidence for what?" He didn't like where this was going.
She opened her eyes then and a brief flicker of emotion touched them. "They may belong to Barbara."
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"Hey Babs! Wanna go check out the pond in the backyard and skip stones?"
"Sure! Anything is better than this."
"Seriously! I can't stand these stupid parties. I wish we didn't have to get dragged to them all the time."
"Is it still pretty mild outside, Dick?"
"Yeah…soooo… I heard you telling Veronica that you think Batman and Robin are pretty cool."
"Well, yeah, they are. I would love to have that kind of freedom."
"Freedom?"
"Yeah, the freedom to be able to jump and fly through the city like that… and the freedom to really make a difference without all that red tape my dad is always talking about. He's had to bail Montoya out of two suspensions that weren't her fault at all! She was doing the right thing and the federal investigators kept trying to take her badge away. Batman doesn't have to deal with that."
"Batman and Robin don't have to deal with that."
"I don't know too much about Robin. He just kind of showed up out of no where and he seems more behind the scenes."
"Robin is just as cool as Batman."
"I think Batman needs a chick sidekick, too."
"Batman has Robin! He doesn't need another sidekick!"
"I could use my gymnastics and be Batman's sidekick! He could teach me how to use the grappling hook and we could…"
"Do you… do you 'like' Batman? Because if you do, that is going to completely negate the whole reason I brought you out here."
"How would that negate us skipping stones?"
"I didn't bring you out here just to skip stones, Babs!"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I… um… I came out here… to ask you…"
"Ask me what, Dick?"
"Ask you if… you want to…"
"Be your chick sidekick?"
"If that means 'girlfriend', than yes!"
"I don't know… I can be a pretty demanding sidekick."
"I think I may be up to the challenge."
"I require a lot of chocolate and cookies."
"Two of the four major food groups. I always have a healthy supply of both."
"And popcorn with every movie."
"Babs! It's me! I think that's pretty much a given."
"And I'm going to have to insist that you kiss me right now."
"I think I'm going to like these demands."