Hey, guys. I know. A new one-shot. I had to put this up. We had an essay in English and we could write a short story. I kinda used an AU of Batman to do this. So, I guess it`s 'killing two birds with one stone'. Am I right? Write a story both for English and Fanfiction. Sorry, for the title. Crappy. If you can think of a better one, I`ll use it.

As I said this is an alternate universe. It`s about how Bruce dealt with the news of Damian..., I guess. This is the actually story I wrote with a few alterations to the original essay I wrote. I didn`t change much. Only a bit. This was the question for the story.

Imagine that you are an ordinary, reasonably happy family, neither very rich nor very poor. You get on quite well together, but you have never been through a real crisis, so you don't know how the family will react to stress.

One evening, just as you are settling down, a stranger calls at your home. They make a statement about your family that is challenging and disturbing.

Write a story about what happens as a result of this.

Remember:

Structure your story so that it builds to a climax.

Create believable characters.

Use good vocabulary and description.

Avoid clichés (obvious, worn-out phrases that anyone might use).

Take care with colloquialism (the way we speak when we talk) – you want the story to sound real, but also to show how brilliantly you can write!

I need to hand this in next Thursday, so if there are any mistakes, tell me. Don`t worry I only changed the paragraphs` 'looks'. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, only the plot.

It was like any other charity ball he has held. Bruce Wayne, one of the world`s most famous people, is going around the room talking to the Elites from different countries. Ever since his parent`s death, he has sworn to help the city as much as he can by giving part of his money to parts of Gotham, and even the globe, where people were less fortunate and needed help. He used all his power, physically, politically and socially, to help people worldwide, no matter of corrupted a state`s government and police force were. This is why the people of Gotham, and even the world, to call him 'Gotham`s Prince'. Added to the fact that he has adopted a child that completely knew none of, he was a great catch to many. Unfortunately for the 'gold-digger women' who wanted Bruce only for his money, he was already married with Selina Kyle, a former thief who gave up her life of stealing, turned a new leaf just to settle in with a love-life with Bruce. She was also socializing with people in the ball to keep up appearances. Ever since the announcement of their engagement, people and the paparazzi have made lots of fake rumours, gossip and bad statements.

It was evening and the ball was nearing its end. People were gradually leaving, though not by much. Those who left were, as expected them to appear, just going to the party to have fun and waste money. They never wanted to give money for helping the needed. They only gave up their money to be able to go into the ball as Bruce held a heck of a party. Luckily, the paparazzi were not welcome into this ball, so they didn`t have to worry about them asking unnecessary questions.

"Guess there`s always those people, right, Bruce?" A familiar voice asked. Bruce turned to see Richard Grayson and his wife, Raven, walking towards him. Richard Grayson, his adopted ward, is a former circus acrobat of the famous family, The Flying Grayson, known to do death-defying on the trapeze without a net. After the fall and murder of his family, he was sent to a juvenile detention centre since all the orphanages were full. There, he was bullied and abused. When he was discovered half-dead after suffering a beating by some bullies in the detention centre, he was adopted by Bruce so that he didn`t have to suffer anymore. Even after adoption though, he was still bullied, both physically and mentally. Everywhere he went, he was always called numerous hurtful names. 'Circus Freak' was the most common, but the one that hurt the most was 'Charity Case'. He was constantly picked on. He didn`t take on Bruce`s family name, since he was Romani and it was an honour to take your family name in Romani tradition. Though he was grateful for his adoption, he is angry for Bruce not attending important things over him, opting work over spending time with him. He is now an active federal agent, often going on undercover missions.

"It is inevitable. You cannot totally change everyone, you know," Raven said. She curtly nodded at Selina, acknowledging her. Selina returned the gesture. It was surprising with how well they got along, despite having a 'healthy' rivalry entailed with...certain matters. Raven Roth-Grayson is a federal agent and met Richard on the job. They were partnered on a mission years ago and the rest is history. She`s smart and beautiful She might be an Ice Queen, being monotonous and sometimes cold and all, but sometimes, she can be really passionate and understanding. That`s what Richard really loves about her. No matter how dark they are in a mission, she would always have a way of making sarcastic, witty comebacks, lightning up the mood.

A smooth female voice was heard behind them. "Hello, Mr. Wayne." They turned to see a woman in her 20`s, dressed in a purple, low-cut dress standing behind them. Selina and Raven glared at the woman, mainly because of her dress. Despite of their married status, there were still women trying to get Bruce and Richard. Both women knew that their husbands probably knew to control of themselves, but you`d never know. They were men after all. They were also playboys before they dated Raven and Selina.

Bruce stepped forward and spoke in his 'billionaire playboy' voice. "Is there a matter, Ms..." He trailed off, realising he didn`t know of this woman. Bruce, as a high-social status man, made sure to know of several different names of people that were more or less important in his 'mission' of helping the world, despite not meeting that person before.

"Ms. Al Ghal, but you can call me Talia," the woman said. Bruce`s eyes narrowed. He had met her before, he just didn`t know her. Now that he thought of it, Ra`s Al Ghal, a former acquaintance of his, was her father. The Al Ghal`s were a family known to lead a group of ninja assassins called The League of Shadows. The League`s main goal is to purge the world of its criminals and threats. Since Gotham was so corrupted and was thought to be far from being helped, they considered to kill of the entire population. With his status, Bruce had done all he can to help the city of The League`s threat, cutting their ties along the way. "And yes. I would like to meet you after the party, relating to certain...matters. And do not worry. It is not of what you think of." She said the last sentence particularly to Raven and Selina, who were seething with anger when they heard her 2nd sentence. There were still greedy women trying to steal their husbands. Despite reassuring them, they were not at ease and the anger did not dissipate.

Bruce and Talia talked for a while longer before she went. "You do know jealousy doesn`t look good on you," Richard teased. Raven glared and nudged him with her elbow. "Yes. Let us have fun before we have to deal with...matters," Selina said.

Finally, the party ended and the guests were clearing up. They headed to the sitting room and took a seat. Raven and Selina made sure Talia sat alone on an armchair and far away from the 2 men. "So Talia," Bruce began, "What is the 'matters' you were talking about?" As if on cue, the doorbell rung. A few moments later, Alfred, the manor`s housekeeper opened the door and lead a young boy that didn`t look more than the age of 9 into the room.

"Ah! Damian, you made it just in time. I was wondering when you`d arrive. Come, we were just beginning," Talia said. Said boy walked over to her and sat on her lap.

"What a charming young boy! Is he yours?" Talia merely nodded. "Who is the father?"

"You do remember the night we had in Metropolis 8 years ago, yes?" Talia said calmly while stroking the young boy`s head through his dark locks. Bruce`s eyes widened, realising the night Talia was talking about. Flashbacks swarmed into his mind.

Suddenly, Selina stood up and ran from the room to the direction of the room she and Bruce shared. Richard abruptly stood up after mere minutes after Selina left and headed to the direction of his old room. Raven followed him after nodding to Bruce, a silent gesture of dealing with Richard.

Bruce told Alfred to escort Talia and Damian out the manor before heading the room Selina and him shared. At the door, he heard Selina`s sobs and immediately had a pang of guilt. He shook his head of the strong emotion before opening the door and going into the room. He walked to her side of the bed and hugged her close. They silently sat there in that position for a while before Selina broke the silence. "Why didn`t you tell me? Didn`t you love me?" Selina said.

"I`m sorry," Bruce said. "It happened a year before our marriage. It had been the night when I had to go to Metropolis to attend the charity event I told you about. I was drugged, Selina. It was all out of his control. I`m sorry. If I could, I would have stopped it. She came into my room to talk about business matters. I didn`t know she spiked my drink."

A knock on the room`s door was heard. Bruce told the person to come in and in came Raven. "Richard is pretty angry right now. He thought you were careful," she said as she walked in and stood in front of the two.

"I couldn`t blame him. I should have been careful. I shouldn`t have accepted her drink," he said, lowering his head and narrowing his eyes. Raven noticed the sign and knew he was going into one of his, as Richard calls, 'brooding' moods.

Silence lapsed in between them before the silence was disrupted, surprisingly, by Raven. Raven never initiated the move to talk. If she did, she was serious. "Bruce, stop brooding. It wouldn`t help the situation right now. We`ll get through this..., like how we always do. Together."

So how was the ending? I know. A bit crappy and abrupt. An ending without an ending, I guess. So, yeah! Only 5 more days to go until I fly back to Hong Kong. I`ve been writing the new chapter of JL Ac with a writer`s block. I need more time! I have to leave now. Biology test on Tuesday! No time for correcting it. Tell me when you find any. Bye! R&R!