Title: The Real Reasons

Author: Ooo-Shiny

Summary: The time-travel machine wasn't originally Bart's project. It was started by the Batman in that era, Damian Wayne, one of the very last heroes remaining. Bart was left with the project and blueprints when Damian was killed, and was made to promise that he would save Damian's family, particularly the Batman that came before him: Dick Grayson.

Length: 1,295 words

He was about eighteen, maybe going on nineteen. Messy ebony hair hung in his azure eyes. He wore a dark grey V-neck t-shirt, with a pair of jeans that were tucked in army boots. His chest and arms were well muscled, and scars ran up his arms. He stared out at what little was left of Gotham. A cat mewed, and rubbed up against his legs. Damian pretended not to notice, but the cat was insistent. Damian sighed and picked him up. "They should be here soon Alfred." Damian murmured.

The Reach. A group that lived to kidnap kids in between the ages of 12 and 17 and mess with their 'meta genes'. Meta genes were genes that every human possessed, and some unlocked their meta genes, which gave the human powers. Most never unlocked it. Which is where the Reach came in. They tampered with the meta genes of normal humans, and then turned the kids into criminals.

When the Reach first started Dick had placed double agents within the organization. As time progressed he found that one of the individuals particularly interested him. His name was Bart Allen. Grandson of the Flash. But Dick had left him alone, watching from afar. Damian believed that it was time to talk to the kid. So, through Dick's carefully planted double agents, and a man named Nathaniel Tryon, a reformed 'criminal', Bart was on his way to Wayne Manor.

Damian sighed again, and turned, stalking away from the window. He was on his way to the kitchen when he sensed another presence in the room, but he didn't acknowledge it.

"Umm..." Murmured a little voice.

Damian turned, staring into the eyes of Ella Kane, aka Flamebird. "Did you say something?" Asked Damian, a smile playing on his lips. Ella shifted uneasily from foot to foot, trying to think of something to say in return, and then realized that he was playing games with her head. Damian smirked once more.

Ella was Bette Kane's granddaughter, who had continued the Flamebird legacy. She was Damian's friend, and one of Dick's double agents. She whacked him upside the head, frowning. "Bird Brain," she muttered.

Once that nickname had bothered Damian. Now he kinda liked it.

"Bart's in the Batcave. Lian and Beryl are watching him, but-"

"So I get all the girls?" Asked Damian, raising an eyebrow.

"I tried to get Collin to come too, but some of the guards got suspicious!" Ella pouted.

Damian grinned softly. "Thanks El. I'll be down in a sec."

"It's Ella!" She complained as she stomped down the stairs. Damian merely smiled.

Bart watched the Batman brush past him, and couldn't help but wonder what he, Bart Allen, was doing here. In the batcave. Well, he wasn't so much complaining about being in the batcave, but he was complaining about being left in the dark. Literally and metaphorically.

Batman stood in front of the speedster, his cape fell around his sides, and he glared at Bart. A glare that sent chills down his back. A glare that said 'I'm in charge. If you have something to say about it, you can take it up with my fist.'

Bart wiped the hair out of his eyes, and nervously glanced around for the girls that had brought him here. "I'm really sorry that I'm here," Bart said quickly, and then he slowed down, because he doubted Batman would appreciate speed talking. "Those girls brought me here, and I'd be okay just going back to the Reach, I mean not that I don't like it there, but if you don't want me here...I mean not that your cave isn't totally crash, but..."

Batman raised his hand in a stop gesture. "Bart, I asked Speedy, Flamebird and Squire to bring you here."

Bart had to stop his jaw from dropping. What did the Batman want with him?

Damian had to stop himself from laughing at the teens shocked expression. He used to think that he would be the best Batman. That he would truly live up to the legacy of Batman. And although Damian didn't really know Bruce, he had admired Dick, and the more and more he had gotten to know his older brother the more he realized that it would be hard, if not impossible for him to fill the legacy Dick left behind. "Your speed makes you the perfect candidate for a...project, I have in mind."

"What kind of project?" Asked Bart.

And so the story began... It wasn't a fairy tale. There wasn't the slightest bit of fiction in that story, but to almost anyone, it would've seemed like a fairy tale. But Bart had seen it all and it was too real to him.

"First of all, you should know my identity, so this story doesn't get way over your head. I'm Damian Wayne. The third Batman."

This time Bart's jaw really did drop.

The story was about Damian's family. Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Jason Todd. All members of the Wayne family. All part of the Batman legacy. All, apprehended and killed by the Reach. But mostly, the story was about Dick, who had taken up the mantle of Batman when Bruce hadn't returned from Rimbor. Dick was killed while Kaldur and Artemis were trying to get information to him.

"My father and Dick both died fighting against the Reach. I've been fighting against it for two years now. I believe that certain events during the time that the Reach started were key points. If we prevent those events from happening, we can fix all of this."

"But isn't tampering with the past always a bad idea?"

Damian shrugged. "It depends on what you're tampering with. In this case we'd be preventing a major disaster."

"So how does any of this involve me?" Bart asked, shifting from foot to foot.

"You're the perfect candidate to go back in time. You won't ruin anything to important with your presence and your only what? Thirteen? You wouldn't attract as much attention as I would."

"How would I go back?"

At this question Damian stood, and started typing on the batcomputer, until a set of blueprints appeared on the screen. "I have most of this done, but the main wiring is a little shaky. We could give it a quick tune up, and everything would be in order."

"A quick tune up?" Demanded Bart, staring at the detailed blueprints. "The wiring for that thing must be huge! It'd take days to fix it!"

"Not if we work fast." Interjected Damian. "The machine isn't too far from where your camp is stationed. One of my agents could sneak you out."

"Why don't you just keep me out?" Damian inhaled, and glanced at the teenager in front of him. Bart was a lot like the batfamily. He was jaded and angry with the world, but he put on the mask, made sure he looked like he was having fun with life.

"Bart, if I could do so without attracting attention, I would. But your absence would definitely attract attention."

Bart inhaled, and stared at Damian. "Fine."