Heir to the Throne

As Jim Gordon passed through the bullpen of the Gotham City Police MCU he noticed a clock on the wall that read a quarter-past-midnight and smiled. The GCPD Commissioner had a private rule, if he was still at Police Headquarters after midnight and not at a crime scene or on the roof with the Bat-Signal burning into the night sky, he was having a good night.

Good night being a relative term, of course. Even the "good" nights had him at his desk until three and in bed around four. Then again the bad nights might mean Joker had taken control of the nuclear power plant and had started a meltdown simply because it was a Wednesday.

He scanned the room and noticed most of the desks were vacant. It was another very good sign. Only three detectives were still at their desks.

At the desk nearest the vending machine was Harvey Bullock. The large man's face was pinched in concentration as he typed up a report on an arrest he'd made earlier with his traditional two-finger typing style. Harvey had bagged a pair of Two-Face's boys and after an hour of interrogation they cracked and informed him they'd been casing the Second National Bank on the East End as part of a quartet of robberies.

It may have been obvious; Two-Face always hit four branches of the Second National when he needed cash. The difference was that they now knew that he'd be hitting them soon. This meant they could plan.

Harvey looked up and grimaced, "I swear, the worst thing you ever did to me was pull me off the beat."

Jim laughed, "Harvey, look at it this way; would you rather be typing up reports or writing tickets?" He left his friend grumbling about his report.

He then turned his attention to Ellen Yin; the young woman had logged her computer off and stood up, "I finished my report on the MacDonald assault, Commissioner. We're turning him over to ICE in the morning."

He nodded, "Very good, Yen. Enjoy your evening."

She laughed, "Oh yeah, I'll be home just in time for my fiancé to have started snoring." After pulling on her coat and saying good night, Yen left for the night.

This brought Gordon to the last of his officers still on the clock, Renee Montoya. She was one of his most trusted officers and he was proud to call the younger woman a friend. He'd met her when she was still a fresh-faced beat cop during his first year as Commissioner. She'd proven her ability quickly and he promoted her and put her on the MCU.

He'd stood by her proudly when she and Maggie Sawyer came out of the closet as a couple, and he'd hoped that his steadfast support of them had prevented most of the fallout for them.

Jim had even helped the pair start a family a few years earlier when Batman had brought a young boy into the MCU to find a foster home. He'd brought Maggie and Renee into his office and convinced them to take the boy and today Jason Todd attended Gotham State University. To his consternation he learned Jason was also dating his daughter. But he'd heard enough good things from Maggie and Renee over the years that he'd promised Susan that he'd keep an open mind.

"What are you working on tonight, Montoya?"

She smiled, "It seems Cobblepot has been quite busy tonight. Nightwing roughed up his bodyguards, Two-Face's goons ran his car off the road and according to a patrolman he just chased his patrons out of the Iceberg in a drunken rant."

Jim tried not to smirk, but it was hard when someone like Penguin was having a lousy night, "They running him in?"

She chuckled, "No, they're letting him off with a warning and I instructed them to keep an eye on the place."

He nodded, "Good. Anything else?" When she shook her head he replied, "How's Maggie?"

Renee laughed at the mention of her partner, "She's embarrassed. Almost ten years on the Force and she's never been injured, one game of basketball with our son and she tears her MCL. I told her to watch out for Jason's crossover after it put me on my ass."

Jim laughed warmly with his friend, "I learned not to play sports with James and Barbara a long time ago. James has a slap shot that can take someone's head off." This time Renee laughed before he started towards his office. He threw a "Good Night, Montoya" over his shoulder for good measure.

When he entered his office he found the window behind his desk was open a few inches. He quickly scanned the dim room and found nothing out of place until his eyes landed on the desk.

He found a folded slip of paper. He plucked it from the desk and found three things written on it. The first was an address in Bristol that he'd remember even if it hadn't been the address of Wayne Manor.

A much younger James Gordon had driven a broken boy only a couple of years older than his son to that address and handed him over to his butler. He still saw the tear-streaked face of Bruce Wayne in his nightmares sometimes.

Next was a date and time; just after ten tomorrow.

Finally were two words: "It's time."

He folded the note and placed it in his pocket. He didn't recognize the handwriting. He didn't need to because this was a conversation he'd been expecting for a very long time. It was also a conversation he'd need sleep for, which is why he quickly logged off his computer and pulled on his coat.

Just as he shut off the lights and started towards the door he heard Renee's voice. "Commissioner, we have a problem."

#&#

Tim launched himself into the air using the grapnel boost, he gripped his cape and allowed it to billow and slow his decent over the roof the Kane Building. He quickly scanned his surroundings and gave a satisfactory nod, there were no surprises waiting for him, friendly or otherwise. With the night he was having, he'd almost prefer finding half a dozen goons awaiting him.

After all, most goons didn't have very-inflated views on their sense of humor or call him "Timmy." Most goons wouldn't pump him for information about who Bruce caught him with so he could use it to pick on him at a later date. Failing that, most goons wouldn't wait for Bruce to say that it was Cassie, file that information away as a foundation for an endless barrage of jokes about her adoptive Amazon status.

Dick would.

Tim held no doubts that tonight Dick Grayson would truly live up to the pejorative use of his name. He wouldn't be cruel about it, Dick wasn't cruel with his teasing but that didn't mean Tim didn't want to punch him in the face when he was Dick's target. He was sure at times like this that Jaime would tell him that Dick's job as the older brother would be to pick on him. After all, Tim had been caught with his girlfriend by Batman. If that didn't warrant a joke or two, what on Earth would?

He landed silently on the roof and scanned the horizon for Dick or Bruce. He'd been trained for years by the best to not make a silent insertion but to spot one as well… "You've quite the naughty boy tonight, young man!"

He looked up and found Nightwing perched on top of the large satellite dish and frowned. It really annoyed him when Dick appeared without him noticing. He gave his adoptive brother an annoyed expression and said, "Nightwing."

The original Robin smirked at him and said, "Always so dour, just like the boss man." With a flourish, Nightwing pushed out of his crouch into a handstand. He then allowed his body to pitch over before he tucked himself into a somersault. He landed gracefully on the roof and continued as though he hadn't just flipped off of the dish, "And now? You've been caught in the act of sullying a young lady's virtue. For shame, Robin. What would Alfred say?"

Robin folded his arms over his chest, "Probably the same thing he told you when he caught you and Barbara using the big screen monitor in the Batcave to watch Nightmare on Elm Street."

Dick's laughter boomed out into the night. He clapped Tim on the back and replied, "Touché, young sir." He sobered a moment later and said, "Don't feel too bad. I've been caught a couple of times myself. Batman will give you the old speech about taking things more seriously, probably give you a few extra-long training sessions and make you change the oil of the Batmobile and that'll be it."

Tim smiled a bit, "You think so?"

With a smirk Dick asked, "Wait, hands over or under her top?"

Tim pulled back and punched Dick in the shoulder, "What the hell?"

Nightwing stumbled back a step and laughed, "I see! So she hasn't waved you off first base yet."

The younger man scowled, "Knock it off!"

"Are we a little sensitive? Frustrated, perhaps?"

Batman's calm voice brought their argument to a halt, "That's enough."

They turned towards his voice and found him standing on the ledge behind them. His cape was wrapped tightly around him that caused Tim to wonder how long he's been there. They gave him sheepish looks as they approached.

Tim spoke first, "Batman, I'm sor-"

Bruce surprised them when he said, "We'll discuss that later."

Silence settled over the three of them for a few moments, Tim and Dick wondering why Bruce called them together but still unsure if they should ask him. Finally, Bruce spoke. "Selina and I have been making lots of plans. Not just for the wedding, but for afterwards as well."

Tim chuckled nervously, "Am I being kicked out?

The corner of Bruce's mouth twitched in a small show of amusement, "Not yet. We've been discussing this part of our lives and how it has to be brought to a close."

Dick stepped forward, "Br- Batman?"

"We want to have children of our own, Nightwing. It was one thing with you two, when you came into my life you were a teenager. Tim was twelve. It would be different going out night after night while my wife and infant are at home." He frowned, "There is another issue; my age."

Tim blurted out the only question on his mind, "What do you mean?"

He turned to Tim then reached into his belt and pulled out a tablet not much larger than his palm. He handed it to Tim, "My reaction time is down almost a tenth of a second." He turned to Dick when he started to reply, "It's trending down. I've been trying to hold it off but soon enough I'll reach a point where no matter how hard I train I won't be able to continue. Gotham can't afford to have a Batman who's too slow, but unless things change very soon Gotham will still need a Batman."

Tim read over the data, Bruce had been testing his reflexes for years to study the success or failures of his training regimen. The numbers had for the most part been steady, but the data the last couple of months showed a minuscule but clear decline. He was still better than world-class athletes; he was even on par with some of the metas on the JLA still. The numbers didn't lie, Bruce would reach a tipping point and the subtle decline would become a steep drop.

He'd eventually become a liability.

"I want one of you to take my place."

Tim felt his blood run cold in his veins from shock. Bruce was asking one of them to take The Mantle. He couldn't believe it, he'd been working for this since the moment he became Robin and as he turned to Bruce he knew what he had to say.

His voice was full of conviction as he spoke, "It should be Nightwing."

At that exact moment, Dick said; "Robin should be the one to take over."

Both were surprised when Bruce chuckled, "It's alright. I didn't bring this up so we could decide tonight. I'll continue on as Batman long enough for us to figure this out. I wanted to include you on this from the start."

Dick chuckled, "First time for everything?"

Bruce laughed then replied, "I had Alfred make up your room, Gordon will be out in the morning."

Dick nodded, his mood a little mellowed by the news, "So we're finally going to tell him." At Bruce's nod he grinned, "Crazy, but I get to have a real breakfast tomorrow instead of Corn Pops so I'll count my blessings."

Bruce turned to Tim and spoke, "About the Museum-"

While Dick started laughing Tim paled again, "Batman, I-"

He lifted a hand and cut him off, "How long?"

Tim stammered, "I- Well… A Couple of months."

Dick stopped laughing before he turned to Batman who nodded then asked, "Is it serious?"

Tim felt his panic dissipate allowing him to respond more calmly, "It could be."

Bruce nodded, "Have her come out to the Manor, we'll have dinner and she can meet Selina and Alfred." With those words, Bruce turned to leave.

Quite suddenly felt his panic return, "She-uh… She already has." He coughed and Bruce turned back to him with an expectant frown. Tim felt a bead of sweat slide down the back of his neck. "She came out this afternoon. Selina had lunch with her and…" White lenses became narrowed slit in Batman's cowl, while Tim shuffled nervously. He'd seen the Bat-glare enough to know that he shouldn't wait until Bruce told him to continue. "She-uh had Alfred put her in a guest room for the weekend." He chuckled nervously, "They hit it off."

Bruce frowned for a long moment so Tim decided to clarify quickly, "Alfred put her in the guest room across the hall from his quarters."

Dick smirked, "Cagey move, opposite side of the manor and you'd have to pass the master bedroom to get there."

Tim nodded and said, "Selina really does like her."

Finally Bruce spoke, "I'm not surprised, Diana always talks about how charming Cassandra is." He then stepped off the roof into the night.

Tim didn't realize what Bruce had done until Dick spoke, "Wait a minute. Wonder Girl? You and Wonder Girl?" Tim sighed as Dick grinned at him, "Little Timmy and Wonder Girl! Wait until Batgirl finds out!"

Robin sighed again, in annoyance, "Yes, yes. Get it out of your system. Make all the jokes you can now, because if you say them in front of Cassie she might show you some of that Amazon strength."

This time, Tim smirked as the thought of his girlfriend doing just that to his adoptive brother was rather enticing. Until Dick replied, "That brings up something. She's meeting your father. That probably means you have to meet her father. You remember Cassie's father, don't you? Big? White hair and a beard? Throws lightning and smites his enemies? Goes by Zeus? How do you think that'll go?"

This time, Nightwing took off into the night while Robin gave voice to the only thought in his head. "Crap."