A/N: The time setting in this story is long after the Arkham City incident. This story is a bit of a shot in the dark. I have no idea if it will work out or not, but if I get enough positive feedback I will post the other three chapters I've written.
Chapter One: Paradise Lost
"Mr. Wayne, I need you to take a look at these papers," said a blonde young woman wearing a business suit, a fitting pencil skirt, and glasses.
"Sure thing Eve," said a dark haired man sitting behind a large desk, "Is there anything else?"
"You're father is still insisting you have dinner with him tonight, and as your advisor and friend I think you should go," answered Eve, taking back the papers that Mr. Wayne had just signed.
He sighed, "I don't really see why he is so insistent that I spend time with him. I see him at almost every charity event."
"Christian, you know your grandparents were killed when he was very young. He just wants to be there for you. Your sister will be going and I think it would be good for the Wayne family to get some quality time together."
Christian waved her off and said, "I know, I know."
Eve nodded and walked off towards the door. When she reached for the handle though, it swung open and in walked another blonde young woman, but she was wearing more casual cloths then the uptight Evelyn Wesson, as well as a black hair band. Christian's face lit up with a smile as he saw her enter the room.
"Kara, what are you doing here?"
Kara sat down on his desk in front of him and answered, "I just got came to visit my boyfriend and I figured I'd drop by and say hello to my best friend."
"Hey now, I'm only twenty five!" Christian joked
Kara laughed, "You and your sense of humor. By the way, have you any idea where Jimmy might be? Ever since he was appointed head of the Daily Planet, I can't seem to find him these days."
Christian grumbled to himself, he really was not a fan of Jimmy Olsen, not necessarily because he was a bad guy, but because he was dating Kara. Ever since he had known her, Christian had been stuck in a perpetual friend zone.
"Won't you join me for dinner sometime then?" he asked with a playful smile.
Kara thought for a second and answered, "I don't know Christian, when it comes to women you're more notorious then dear old Brucie."
Christian tried to shove that image out of his mind. Of course he knew the tales of how his dad was back in the day, a notorious playboy. Feeling obligated to follow his family tradition, much to his sister's disgust; Christian had courted his fair share of women.
"Besides," Kara continued, "Uncle Clark and my cousin Connor want me back in Metropolis as soon as possible. I have a family business to run of my own you know."
"Yeah, you never tell me about it," Christian muttered to himself. Kara had some sort family business she ran back in Metropolis along with he uncle and cousin. Though from what he had heard, Clark Kent was all but retired and left most of his company to Connor.
Kara smiled and jumped off Christian's desk, walking to the door, "You know where I'm staying here, if you wanna visit all you gotta do is show up."
With those words, she left Christian alone in his office, along with Eve.
"Hey Eve, do you think you could drive me home, I'm feeling a little tired," he asked his personal secretary.
Eve nodded and said, "I'll get the limo started."
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When Christian and Eve arrived at Wayne Manor to pick up his dad, they found the lights in the house completely off and the door locked shut.
"I'm sure your father probably went to the restaurant already, I can call and ask them if he's there," Eve suggested, hoping Christian wouldn't lose interest in his family time.
"Hold on, I've got a key," Christian told her as he pulled out a key ring and picked out an old fashion silver key. Christian inserted the key, then turned it, causing the door to open up with a loud *CLICK*. He held the door open for Eve then followed inside.
"I'm just gonna grab a tie and I'll be back in a second," Christian said as he walked through one of the side doors.
"Just hurry up," Eve called to him, "your reservations are in ten minutes."
Christian nodded and continued to head towards his father's bedroom.
As he passed through the library, he heard a loud squeaking noise. Christian whirled around to see what was in the room with him just to find a small bat, trapped in his dad's old grandfather clock.
"Hold on, I've got you," he said reassuringly, not to sure why he was talking to the thing in the first place. Christian opened up the glass that trapped the bat, which soon after flew out of the room, causing Christian to loose his balance. He accidently grabbed the pendulum to stop his fall, causing a soft rumbling noise. Christian stepped back as the clock swung open, revealing a secret tunnel that he had never noticed before.
"Eve!" he called, "Eve come over here quickly!"
He soon heard the sound of Eve's heels hitting the hard wood floor and after a couple seconds, she was in the library.
"Mr. Wayne, what's wrong?"
Christian stepped aside to show her the secret passage and asked, "Is there any time in my schedule for spelunking?"
Eve nodded slowly, still trying to process what was happening. Christian assumed it might have been an old underground railroad; after all, the house was like a million years old.
Christian turned the flashlight on his phone on and led the way down the winding steps of the secret passage way. Eve followed closely behind, trying to keep her usual calm and cool attitude. When they reached the bottom, they found a large metal door with what looked like a password keyboard. Christian thought for a second, and then typed in his father's usual password, 'Thomas and Martha Wayne'.
The door slid open, revealing an expansive cave, filled to the brim with high tech gadgets and cars.
"No way…" Christian muttered to himself.
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Bruce and Mary Wayne (his daughter) sat at a table for three, waiting on Christian.
"Go figure that big shot businessman isn't coming," Sarah grumbled, annoyed with her brother for ditching them yet again."
"I'm sure he's coming, we didn't hire Eve for nothing," Bruce told her. He was a little disappointed as well though. As much as he hated to admit it, he was getting old. Bruce only wanted Christian and Sarah to have the father he never had, especially after what happened to their mother.
Suddenly, Bruce's phone went off, causing all the people in the restaurant to give him dirty glares. He waved sorry to them and looked at the phone. The caller ID said 'Christian Wayne', so he picked up, but what he heard from his son was unexpected.
"What the hell is this?"
Bruce, a bit confused now, answered, "What the hell is what?"
Christian's voice came back, seething with anger, "You want to admit the biggest secret you've ever kept from us in your life or do I have to explain it!"
Bruce's eyes widened, he had discovered the cave, "Christian I'm sorry, but I didn't know how to tell you. I quit being Batman and abandon the cave because of you and your sister, I couldn't bear the thought of not being there for you two."
"So you let the criminals in Gotham just run rampant because of us, Bruce things are worse then ever!"
Bruce shook his head, "You can never understand this Christian. At the time I had retired, I had reached the point where I almost couldn't control myself anymore. I couldn't do anything to endanger you two."
"You are coming home right now along with Sarah, and we are going to have a talk about this. I can't believe you kept something like this from us!"
Bruce sighed, "I'll be there in a bit."
Sarah looked over to him with concerned eyes, "What's wrong Dad?"
"Come on Sarah, we need to head over to the manor. You, Christian, and I are going to have a family talk," he answered, standing from his table and walking out towards the door. Sarah nodded and followed suit, leaving the restaurant with her father.
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As the two walked back, it began to storm. Thunder and lightning crashed as rain poured down heavily on them. Bruce held his hand in front of his face, trying to block his face from the rain, while Sarah just powered through as much as she could. As they continued towards where they parked, they heard footsteps behind them.
"Mr. Wayne, you're very far from home," said a shadowy figure
Bruce turned towards him and growled, "What do you want?"
"You're wallet and the lady's purse, on the ground now or I shoot you both."
Bruce froze up; it was as if he was reliving the worst day of his life.
"3…" the man counted, getting impatient
The gunshot that killed both his parents rang through his head as he stood still, eyes wide.
"2…"
The broken pearls seemed to be all he could see, the bloody, broken pearls.
"1…"
Bruce couldn't bring himself to move, the memory of his parents death was too much.
"That's it, I warned ya!" the man yelled. His gun fired, the sound of the shot rang through the whole block, just as it had before.
"DAD!" screamed Sarah. She turned to the man and yelled, "You bastard, I'll kil…"
She was cut off by another deafening gunshot, causing her top collapse in a mess of blood across from her father.
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Christian sat in front of the bat computer, tapping his fingers impatiently. His dad should have arrived much earlier, but instead he had decided to ditch what was actually important for a stupid dinner. He looked around at his father's legacy, all the suits, all the cars, all the gadgets, all the chemicals; it was overwhelming. He had always wondered why Bruce had forced him to spend most of his life mastering 100 different martial arts; he guessed this was it. As he continued to tap his fingers, waiting for his family to come home.
"Christian,"
Christian turned around and saw Eve holding a phone. He noticed that she was tearing up, almost as if she was about to break out crying.
"What's wrong?" he asked her seriously
"Your father and sister, they've been… they've been murdered."
Christian looked at her and was silent.
"Eve, you were never one to joke, I suggest you keep it that way," he growled menacingly.
Eve shook her head and said, "They were shot in an ally on the way home… I'm, I'm so sorry…"
Christian's eyes began to water, but he refused to accept it.
"no…" he muttered to himself as he ran out of the cave and into the garage, "NO!"
He started up the closest car he could find and sped off towards where Eve told him they had been shot.
When he arrived, he saw police cars surrounding the area, along with ambulances and other emergency vehicles.
Christian stepped out of his car, eyes widened with fear. He shoved past the policemen, running over towards where he saw the flashes of cameras. What he saw caused him to drop to his knees. His father and his sister, both dead in a pool of blood because of him, because he had been too selfish just to show up to eat dinner with them.
"Dad," he cried, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…"
A policewoman approached him and said, "Son, are you alright?"
Christian looked up and saw a policewoman, not much older then he, who he recognized to be the police commissioner Jenna Carmen.
"This is all my fault," he cried, "if I had been there I could have stopped this…"
Jenna shook her head and said, "No, no Mr. Wayne, this isn't your fault, it's this city. It's slummed into an all time low, I'm just sorry it had to take two good people."
Christian slammed his fist on the ground, and let the rain soak his best suit. Feelings of sadness suddenly became overwhelmed with feelings of insatiable rage. His father and his baby sister were both gone. They were taken by the evil and the greedy, when they had done nothing wrong.
His dad, the Batman, had done so much for the city and now it just chewed him up like it did everything else. Commissioner Carmen was right, there is something wrong with this city. It seems to be cursed with vice and murder, unable to pull itself above the cloud of poverty that covered everything. He was alone, all alone.
A/N: Please leave reviews to let me know if this is a good idea for a story. Again, I have no idea how this will be received, but take the AU changes with a grain of salt.
