Disclaimer/Summary: See chapter one.

What's Happening: Wally has separated from his group and met Terry McGinnis.

Note: This has been updated and edited as of 10/2/11.

Happy Reading, Enjoy!


Chapter 9: It Is in His Nature

Diana and Cass followed Bruce and Sherry through out the tower, at the moment they were on the fifth floor from the top and walking towards the brake room because Bruce needed to wash his hands of the ink that got there through a small printer accident. Bruce stopped where he was causing Sherry to stumble, she looked back at Bruce and tugged on his hand lightly, "Wha'cha looking at Bruce?"

Bruce looked up at the petite brunette and pointed down their left to a hallway, "There."

Sherry followed Bruce's line of vision, "That's the mail man, Danny, would you like to go say hi?" Bruce nodded his head shyly. "Okay, come on, maybe he'll even let us help, would you like that?" Bruce nodded again.

Diana couldn't stop grinning, this young, tiny, innocent Bruce was the cutest thing in the world, "He's so cute." she said to Cass.

Cass nodded, "He is."

As they reached the large grey cart with big white boxes filled with envelopes and packages a man stepped out of the nearest doorway and hit the wall a few times, "To true mate. I couldn't believe it either." The was a laugh from inside the room. "Later mate, mustn't slack off." The man completely stepped out of the doorway and began flipping through the contents in a white box.

Bruce stared wide-eyed at the man. He was tall, broad shouldered with brown hair and striking green eyes. He wore tan cargo pants and a black T-shirt with a large green bird on the front. Around his neck was a black cord with an oddly shaped pendant hanging from it.

"Hi Danny!" Sherry said brightly.

Danny jumped slightly, "Hello love, you gave me a fright."

Sherry gave him an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"No problem, what can I do for you," Danny asked.

Sherry smiled and glanced down at Bruce, "I have someone who would like to meet you."

"Really?" Danny asked, "No one ever wants to meet the mail man."

Sherry laughed, "You know we all love you."

"Of course doll," Danny grinned. "So who would like to meet little ol' me?"

Sherry squatted down to Bruce's level and held him next to her, "This is Bruce, he's the boss's son and he was wondering if you would let us help you deliver your mail."

Danny knelt down to Bruce's level, "Hello there."

"Hi," Bruce said shyly.

Danny noticed how shy Bruce was and held his hand out. "M'names Danny."

Bruce took his hand after a moment and shook it, "Why do you have a Koala claw on your necklace?" Bruce asked quietly.

Danny looked surprised, "You're the first person to get that right, and I have it because a Koala died near my house and we took him to the vet, they gave us one of his claws, because Koala claws can be used for many things, but this one," Danny said fiddling with his, "was to small."

"Koala's live in Austwr-alia, that means you'we Austwr-alian, but you have an Austwr-alian accent so I alweady knew that, how long did you live there?" Bruce asked quietly.

Danny was taken aback by how much this small boy knew, "Um... well I lived there until I turned nine, then my parents died and I came he to good ol' America to live with my grandfather, then I moved in with my uncle, he helped me get this job when I was fifteen."

"You'we young," Bruce said.

"Why thank you," Danny said with a slight bow.

Bruce studied his face, "You look too young to wowk here."

Danny blinked, "I'm eighteen, I'll be nineteen in a few weeks. How old are you?"

Bruce shuffled so he was part way hidden by Sherry, "I'm thwee."

"Wow... So would you like to help deliver the rest of the mail?" Danny asked. Bruce nodded. "Okay, well I always save the most fun for last, all these remaining letters go to the busy bees on the 52nd floor, I must warn you, this is the craziest floor there is do you think you're up for it?"

Bruce nodded again.

"Okay, so all the letters are in alphabetical order by last name... oh wait-"

"I know what alphabet-cally means," Bruce said shyly.

"Never mind then, so as we pass each cubical I'll call out a name and you had me a letter if they have one, if they don't then just say 'At a loss mate' can you do that?" Danny asked. Bruce nodded. "Well come on then try it, say 'At a loss mate.'"

"At a loss mate," Bruce whispered.

"Oh come on, say it like you mean it!" Danny exclaimed.

"At a loss mate!" Bruce said a little louder.

Danny smiled, "That'll do. To the 52nd floor. Bruce do you mind sitting on the cart, it would be easier." Bruce didn't say anything, but Danny picked him up and plopped him on the cart. They headed to the elevators and went down to the craziest floor.


Barbra was drumming her fingers on the left arm rest of her wheelchair waiting for Tim to shut up while Clark pushed her forward. She wasn't pleased that Clark was pushing her, but she let him because it seemed to ease his nerves. As they forged through the dim abyss Clark and Tim started to become more agitated.

"There," J'onn said motioning to a lighter spot in the darkness.

"What is is it," Clark asked.

Tim squinted, "It looks like a blob." Barbra slapped his leg. "Ow," he whined.

"Careful," J'onn warned as they began to get closer. J'onn reached out with his mind, hello? The light vanished.

"Who are you?" A voice asked from behind startling them, they whipped around to face the sound. Standing before them stood a teenage girl, with black hair.

"You are Ace, are you not," J'onn asked.

"Yes, but who are you, and why are you here?" Ace asked peering at them. Her white outfit glowed in the darkness giving the heroes some light.

"I am J'onn J'onzz, these are my companions: Clark Kent, Barbra Walters, and Tim Drake." J'onn answered waving a hand to each of them.

"You two are Batman's apprentices," Ace examined Barbra and Tim, there was no question in her voice.

Barbra let out a small chuckle, "I haven't lived with Bruce for quite a few years."

Ace rested her eyes on Barbra, "One never stops learning, especially from ones teacher. You may seem to be out of the nest, but Batman will always see you as his student no matter how old you are, you would do well no to forget that."

Barbra sensed that she should not argue if she did disagree, although she didn't, "I will."

"I'm not too sure we are more than apprentices," Tim said with a shrug.

Ace whipped to face him, "Never say such a thing!" She hissed, her voice growing with anger, Tim recoiled as if she'd slapped him. "Bruce loves you all very much, he may not show it, but you are his family and he would do anything to protect you! I can not believe you doubt his love for you, both of you," Ace glanced at Barbra through narrowed eyes, "I will show you that Bruce is not the cold hearted man you think him to be."

Ace snapped her fingers and a blinding light momentarily confused the heroes, but it vanished just as fast as it appeared. The heroes glanced around and found themselves on a campus, a college campus.

Barbra immediately found the younger version of her adopted father. He looked to be nineteen, not quite his full grown height, but filled out. "There," Barbra pointed out Bruce with the slight nod of her head.

"Bruce graduated high school very early, this is his last year of five years in college," Ace explained, she began to follow the young Bruce across the campus, the others trailed behind her, taking in their surroundings from the beautiful campus buildings to the people pointing to Bruce and whispering about him behind their hands. Bruce ignored them and kept up his steady pace, he lead them off campus to what looked to be a hospital.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne," a young receptionist greeted him, giving him a flirty smile. Bruce gave her a nod in acknowledgement, but continued deeper into the hospital; he entered an elevator and exited on the fourth floor. He walked down a hallway making three turns stopping before a door and knocking before entering. Ace lead them into the room behind Bruce.

Inside was a regular hospital room, there were a few drawings on the wall, but that was it. A nurse in a pink outfit hovered over the occupant in the bed, she didn't even twitch at the door opening. "Hello Bruce," she didn't bother to turn and greet him, "You are here a three minutes early, rough day?" The nurse asked straightening and checking the I.V.

"Yes," Bruce answered.

After writing a few thing on a clipboard the nurse finally turned and faced him, she had light brown hair and sparkling grey eyes, she looked to be in her early twenties. "Sasha is doing well today, much better than yesterday," a frown crossed the nurses face when she made mention of the previous day.

"I'm glad." Bruce replied, relief flitting through his eyes.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone," she said walking to the door.

"Will you join us for lunch," a voice asked.

The voice called the attention of everyone in the room. In the bed, propped up against two pillows, was a young girl. The little girl's appearance cause the heroes to gasp. A little more than a third of her head was shaved, the rest of her head covered in black, curly hair. Her eyes were a vivid blue, but they lacked a spark. The girl looked as if she had been through the ringer, her face was hollowed, but at the sight of Bruce a smile graced her features.

"The resemblance is amazing," J'onn said studying the girl on the bed.

"Uncanny," Barbra said.

"It's scary; like looking at Cass when she would've been this age," Tim breathed, he stared at the girl who could have been his older sister's twin, if they were the same age.

Barbra willed her tears not to fall, "She has the same pained look Cass always has."

The group snapped back to 'reality' when the nurse replied to the girl's question, "I would love to join you for lunch Sasha, just let me finish making my rounds, then I'll take my break and join you and Bruce." Sasha gave the nurse a large smile in thanks. "I think there's candy in the drawer," she said winking at Bruce before disappearing.

Bruce turned back to Sasha and pulled a chair closer to the girl's bed, "How's my Ash today?" He asked while taking a seat.

The girl turned to him, "Good, I feel much better. Did you hear, they are going to play Balto tonight, I can't wait!" the little girl exclaimed in excitement at the prospect of watching the movie with the wild dog saving the sick little girl in Alaska.

Bruce gave the girl a sad smile. "That's your favorite movie, I bet you could recite it word for word."

"I could! And you know what else, I heard that they are going to repaint the rooms, I asked Abby to tell me what color my room would be, but she wouldn't say. She says she wants it to be a surprise." Bruce listened intently as the girl rambled on about nothing in particular.

Ace turned to the group she brought here, "Bruce first stumbled across Sasha here in the hospital when he had to do a report for a professor three months ago, he has come here everyday at 11:48 since then. She was left in the hospital bathroom at the age of three, the mother and father left her there when they found out she was sick with leukemia. She has survived on chemo the past four years. When Bruce discovered she had no one, he began to visit her." she explained.

They watched as Bruce interacted with the six year old, smiling as she talked animatedly about everything and nothing. Bruce sat listening, sincerely enthralled with what the little girl had to say. He would hmm and haa, and often gave her his opinion on certain matters, like which 'knight in shining armor' was better, the one from Sleeping Beauty or the one from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Ace began moving her hand in a circular motion and everything sped up, Abby, the nurse, came in and had lunch, then she left, then Bruce left, then it grew dark outside. The heroes watched as Ace sped it up even fast, the days came and went and Bruce came and went with them. Ace stopped moving her hand and time went back to it's regular pace.

Sasha moved in her sleep and one of the machines next to Sasha's bed beeped, she moved again and it beeped again, then Sasha's movements became more prominent, soon she began coughing and the machine's beeping increase at the same rate Sasha's coughing did. Sasha's coughing grew more and more and soon the girl woke up, her coughing did not stop, it grew worse. She began to wheeze between coughs in order to catch her breath, the machine next to her was beeping rapidly, and her heart monitor showed her heart-rate speeding up. Sasha rolled over so her head was hanging over the side of her bed, her coughs shook her body as did her wheezing. After a long coughing spasm Sasha went to take a breath, but instead she continued to cough, her face turned blue as the fit continued. Her heart monitor was beeping nearly as fast as the other machine, and then it stopped. The heroes looked on helplessly.

A commotion outside the door drew the attention of the occupants. The door burst open and two nurses ran in, one ran to Sasha and turned her over and checked her pules. "Nothing."

"She must have flatlined." the other nurse said, she ran to the door and stuck her head out, "We Need ADE Pads Stat, She's Flatlined!"

Another nurse and a doctor came running into the room, the nurse ran over to a cart with a lock, he quickly punched in the code on the number pad and retrieved, two ADE Pads. The doctor had already opened Sasha's gown, he took the pads from the male nurse, "Half charge."

The nurse turned a nob on the machine the ADE pads were plugged into, "Charged."

The doctor rubbed the pads together, "Clear," he pushed the pads onto Sasha's chest, her upper body lifted off the bed slightly.

The nurse who had first check her pules, did it again, "Nothing."

"Again, 75 percent charge," the doctor commanded. He waited for the nodded from the male nurse, "Clear." Agin Sasha's body rose, put feel back limply.

"No pules," The nurse holding Sasha's wrist said.

"Once more." the doctor said.

"Charged," the male nurse said with a nod.

"Clear," the doctor stated, before setting the pads to Sasha's chest again.

They all looked to the nurse holding her wrist, "I have a pules!"

The doctor stepped forward and placed his fingers on the pules on her neck. "Confirmed." he stepped back and went to the clipboard at the end of the bed and began reading it, "We need to know what set this off, call in her day nurse so I can talk to her."

One of the nurses nodded and quickly exited the room. The doctor and other nurses quickly began examining Sasha. They made sure she wasn't in any serious pain. Before they were able to ask their first question Abby came running into the room.

"What happened?" She asked quickly stepping past the doctor and moving to Sasha's side, the girl held her arms open asking for a hug, Abby obliged.

"We aren't too sure, she just flatlined, I want to know if you noticed her acting differently yesterday, did she have a cough, did she sneeze a lot," The doctor asked.

Addy sat on Ash's bed and held her hand, "She seemed totally fine, if anything she seemed to be feeling better, I wasn't in here a lot yesterday, but... I know someone who was, he may be able to help."

"Family?" The doctor asked.

"No, but he visits her everyday," Abby explained, "He would have noticed if she hesitated while eating, or she sneezed even the tiniest bit."

"Please call him," The doctor said, "I'll be down the hall, come talk to me when he gets here."

Abby nodded and pulled out her cellphone dialing Bruce's number, which was on a sticky next to Ash's bed. "Bruce, are you awake?" Abby asked. "...Yeah. Can you come into the hospital, Ash flatlined—" she paused mid sentence. "Yes, she's fine now, sleeping. The doctor on call would like to talk to us."

Ace waved a hand and everything sped up again, two days went by and all seemed fine. Then Bruce came into Ash's room with a box behind his back. Ace slowed everything down.

"Hi Bruce," Ash's chirped from her chair by the window, she got up to give him a hug, but Bruce shook his head.

"Get on the bed, I have a present for you." Bruce said. Ash's eyes grew wide and she scrambled onto her bed. Abby stood in the doorway watching. Bruce set the medium sized box on the bed, it moved a bit and Ash's eyes grew even bigger. Bruce lifted the lid and a white fur-ball came tumbling out, onto Ash's blanket covered legs. "I bought him for you." Bruce said.

"It's a puppy!" Ash's exclaimed. The small dog clumsily bounded up to Ash and began licking her face. Ash hugged the small dog gently. "Thank you!" Suddenly Ash's face fell, "Who is going to take care of him, puppies aren't aloud in here."

"I'll take care of him, he'll visit everyday with me. So what are you going to name him?" Bruce asked petting the little dog.

"Balto Jr.! BJ for short! He looks just like Balto, do you think he can get me medicine?" Ash asked innocently.

Bruce froze and Abby's eyes began to water, "I don't know, I think he's a little too young, maybe in a few years."

"You're right!" Ash said hugging the small dog again, she laughed as it's whiskers tickled her face.

"She is adorable," Barbra said in reference to Ash. Ace nodded and snapped her fingers, and the heroes found themselves at a park, Bruce stood with BJ at his side who was larger than he had been moments ago, Abby stood across from them. Bruce held an expressionless face while Abby's eyes were very red, dark circles under them. "I never told her what color her room was going to be," Abby sobbed wiping her eyes. Bruce handed BJ's leash to Abby, he gave her a small, thin-lipped smile and began to walk away. Abby began crying full force, she picked BJ up and hid her face in his fur, the small dog seemed to be void of energy normal puppies have.

With another snap of her fingers Ace transported the heroes back to the dark abyss.

"What happened?" Clark asked.

Ace turned to the man of steel, "Five days after Bruce got Sasha that dog, she died, he left the dog with Abby and never went back to the hospital." Ace turned to the Bat-children, "Does this prove to you that Bruce can care for people and that he loves you?" Ace asked Barbra and Tim.

"I never doubted Bruce's love, he's just distance," Barbra said wiping a few tears from her cheek.

Ace looked at the ex-Batgirl, "It is in his nature. What else would you expect from him?"


Donna, Inza, Dick, and Kent were in the main Wayne kitchen. Bruce was hunched over the tall island on a stool; Alfred was placing servings of eggs, bacon, and toast on four different plates; and Barbra was leaning against the counter near Alfred drinking orange juice. Alfred took two plates to the small table facing the window. Bruce stood and carried the other two plates over. Alfred went to the intercom and called Tim and Cass down.

Tim was the first to reach the kitchen, he retrieved his plate without a word and headed back through the archway the way he came, but was stopped by Cass.

"Move!" Tim demanded.

"No."

"Get out of my way!" Tim growled his voice rising.

Cass straightened up and towered over Tim glaring at him, "Go sit down. Now." She hissed. Tim looked up at Cass with horror hiding behind his eyes. When Tim had turned back to the table and sat down, Cass poured herself a cup of coffee and joined the group.

The table was silent as they ate breakfast. Barbra and Bruce were reading the paper while Cass stared at Tim, who glared daggers at her. When Tim finished eating he made to get up but Cass raised an eyebrow, "I hope you're not leaving yet."

"I'm done eating, I should be able to leave now." Tim scoffed getting up.

"No, you best come back and sit down," Cass said still staring at the seat he'd just occupied. Tim looked at Cass' back, set his plate in the sink and using his training, snuck out of the kitchen. Tim made it to the foyer before a hand stopped him mid stride, "I'm better."

Tim looked up at his dark haired step-sister. "You're not my mother, you can't tell me what to do. Move before I force you to!"

Cass' eyes narrowed a millimeter. "I may not be you're mother, but you're mother is no longer with us and neither is your father. Do you know what that means? We are your family now, Barbra and I are your sisters, Dick is our brother and Bruce is our father."

Tim masked most of his anger, "Bruce is not my father! A father doesn't drive their son out of the house!" Tim's mask slipped a little.

"You should not be mad at Bruce for Dick leaving, if anything you should be mad at Dick, he's the one who left, he acted like a school girl who didn't get their way." Cass said simply.

Tim broke. He threw a punch at Cass' gut, she took the hit but immediately retaliated by hooking her foot around Tim's ankle and tripping him. Tim fell to the floor and tried to roll away from Cass, but she pinned him down.

"Dick left, it wasn't Bruce's fault." Cass stated.

"Yes it was! Bruce hates us all!" Tim screamed.

Cass rolled Tim over so he was facing her, she pinned his arms under either him and grabbed his face so he was forced to look her in the eye, "Have you looked around you!" Cass hissed, showing her emotions for the first time, the most prominent one being rage. "No you haven't! Or else you would have noticed how depressed our father is!" Cass snapped her voice growing with anger.

"It Was Bruce's Faul—," Tim yelled.

"No It Wasn't!" Cass interrupted mid-sentence. "Dick wanted to start shit. When has Bruce ever forced us to do anything? We have always had a choice and always will! It may seem like he's forcing us to do something, but we can say No, but Dick is too ignorant to see that! He left all of us because he wasn't listening, thats his problem, he never listens! You say Bruce doesn't care for us, but that's a line, both you and Dick are too stupid to see it. You hear the words, not their meaning, you have to look past the surface and dig deep, especially with our father." Cass took a breath and stood to climb the stairs.

Tim lay on the floor watching Cass until she disappeared, he then looked up at the ceiling. Tim wasn't too sure anymore. Cass had forced him to look at all the facts and most of them pointed to Dick. He thought about everything Bruce had ever asked him and he realized Cass was right once again. He could always say no, he always had the choice, like when Bruce asked if he wanted to be Robin, Bruce hadn't forced him. Tim flipped himself into a standing positing and went back to the kitchen. Dick and the other heroes followed Tim.

Dick couldn't help, but think about what Cass had said, and like Tim, he had to admit she had valid points, but Bruce never did seem to care for them, no matter how hard they tried, although from what he's seen so far, Dick slowly realized how wrong he was. Donna placed a hand on Dick shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze.

Tim entered the kitchen and found Barbra and Alfred loading the dishwasher. "Where's Bruce?"

Alfred straightened, "Master Bruce is in his lounge I believe."

As Tim left Barbra called after him and he paused, "Cass is right Tim, Bruce is hurting too." Tim nodded hurrying up the stairs. He wondered how Bruce had passed him and got up the stairs without him noticing, he was laying in the foyer the entire time, but Bruce was The Batman. Tim hurried down the east wing's second floor and stopped in front of two large doors, one of which was open.

Tim and the heroes peered in.


John, Shayera, Jason, and Zatanna fell forward onto the ground. "That one hurt," Jason said from where he was lying.

"Yes, it did," Zatanna said getting up and cracking her back, "Sorry about that guys."

Shayera helped John to his feet. "Any idea where we are?"

"Like I should know, this is Batman we are talking about." John said with a slight roll of his eye. Shayera raised an eyebrow at his tone, but let it slide.

The heroes glanced around taking everything in. They were in a huge entryway that connected two hallways to the left and right and wide wooden staircase in front of them going up. A loud bell rang and the heroes turned around to see hundreds of students entering the building, which they assumed to be a school, a private school due to all the uniforms. The students ranged from tiny kindergarteners to pimple covered seventh graders. The heroes stood and watched as the students filled the hallways completely unaware of them; students greeted each other and began talking a mile a minute while emptying their backpacks into their lockers.

The buzz of voices got louder and louder as the school filled with students, but then the voices slowly stopped. John glanced around at the kids who were yelling and goofing off mere seconds ago.

"Look," Jason said motioning to the students who were all looking to the doors where a hunched over black haired boy walked in, book bag over one shoulder, his head bent towards the floor. As he passed, the other students looked on with sympathy, many began whispering behind their hands to one another pointing towards the young boy.

John glared at the student even though it had no effect, he hated kids who made others feel like the odd one out, after all he had once been like that. From the looks of it, this poor kid hadn't done anything to deserve the wide-eyed looks and whispers. John and the heroes followed the boy to his locker. A few lockers down was a group of four boys who were point towards the boy and talking to each other, one of the boys went over to the boy and tapped his shoulder.

The boy shook his head not bothering to turn around, giving the other boy a clear go away message. "Don't be such a baby! Man up you wimp!" The boy sneered before stalking back to his little group. A small movement caught John's attention on the other side of the hall, a group of three boys watched the depressed looking boy unload his books into his locker. By the looks of things John concluded these three boys were the depressed boy's friends, but for some reason they didn't greet him today.

A two minute warning bell rang and the students began scattering to their respective classrooms, those who passed the depressed boy still spoke in whispers and stared as they passed, but the boy remained at his locker unloading each item out of his bag, one thing at a time. The heroes stood watching the boy suspiciously. Then the bell rang signaling the school day's official start.

The sound of heavy shoes on the stone floor made the heroes look up, a man in a sharp blue suit with a white stripped tie strutted down the hallway. The man spotted the depressed boy, "Hey! You there, young man, why aren't you in class, I'm going to have to give you a detention." The boy didn't respond he continued to empty his bag. The man approached the boy and grabbed his shoulder spinning him around, "I was talking to—,"

The man froze, as did the heroes, the sight before them would have frozen anyone. The boy was dressed in the school's standard uniform, a blue jacket, white button up shirt, gold tie, and tan slacks. His apparel didn't flood the heroes with a variety of emotions, it was his over all appearance.

The boys face was sheet white except for dark purple rings under his eyes. His eyes seemed as if someone had pushed them far into his head. The eyes that should have been a sparkling blue were a horrid dark grey with the veins a dark red reminiscent of pink eye. The boy's hollow cheeks gave him a haunted look. His lips—which like any other child's should have been pink—were pale with grey cracks lining their dry surface. Instead of a broad smile, the lips were a thin, thin line almost disappearing. The hunched stance gave the boy a beaten, defeated look, he could have been mistaken for death. This boy had been through hell and was obviously still there.

The man who gripped his shoulder let his hand fall, "I—I—apologize. I—I'm sorry Mr. Wayne... had I—I know it was y—you I—I wouldn't have..."

A young Bruce blankly stared at the man, he was the husk of a human, void of life. The only human like sign about him was the deep grief hidden in his dark eyes.

Shayera looked at the young Bruce and had never seen anything so horrid in her life. She had seen children who lost their homes, their families, but she had never seen any child look so broken. This boy was Bruce, but Shayera struggled to see the resemblance.

John didn't know what to think. He had never been great friends with Batman—although no one could really say they were best buddies with Gotham's Dark Knight—but he knew enough about Bruce Wayne to know what he had gone through. John saw Batman as a hero who just wanted revenge, but the ghost child in front of him said that there was much more to the story than just revenge.

Jason stared, the sight made his mind a mess of sadness and sympathy and he had a hard time sorting out his thoughts.

Zatanna wiped tears from her cheeks. Everything always seemed to happen to Bruce, nothing good ever came to the vigilante, and seeing him like this, as such a young boy, made her heart go out to him even more.

"W-What is your first hour Mr. Wayne?" the man asked.

Bruce stared at the man, his eyes burning holes in the man's soul, practically feeding the man his pain, "Biology I, then Fencing." Bruce's voice was cracked, like he was dehydrated.

The man nodded, "V-Very well, you best be off, just tell your teacher I let you go." Bruce nodded, he turned back to his locker, retrieved two books, and went up the stairs. As he walked the heroes could almost see a cloud of depression hanging on his shoulders.


Terry whistled as he and Wally walked through the thick fog. "So if you could play any prank on Bats what would it be," Wally asked.

"Something original," Terry said simply.

"Like wha—,"

"Look," Terry nodded in the direction of a shape in the distance.

Wally sped up a bit, "What do you think it—Whoa!" Wally and Terry both vanished from the spot they were and reappeared in a brightly lit Wayne Manor.

"Bruce you had better be good, Santa is watching you," called a musical voice. Terry and Wally turned a moment to late allowing a young Bruce ran right through them.

Wally shivered, "Creepy!"

"Come on mom!" The young joyful Bruce cried, he looked to be six or seven, he was in a small tux and his bright blue eye shown with happiness and a blinding smile grew on from his mouth. A young woman in her mid-to-late thirties followed Bruce into the room. She wore a deep navy, off the shoulder dress that made her eyes sparkle and her blond hair shine.

"Slow down Bruce! What is the rush?" Martha asked trying to hold back a smile at her adorable son.

"I want to see dad! I didn't get to see him this morning and he said we would make a special Christmas eve eve lunch." Bruce said with a small scowl.

Martha bent down in front of her son, "You know he would have loved to stay, but there was an emergency at the hospital, we will see him when we get to Stacy and Bill's party." Bruce nodded and Martha straightened his tie, "Good, now lets get going, or else your father is gong to beat us there." Bruce hurried to the foyer with his mother following smiling to herself.

Wally was about to say something when Bruce's voice interrupted him. "Come on Dad!" Wally turned towards the sound which was the same arch way Bruce and his mother first came through. Wally was even more confused as young Bruce walked through the archway in blue and white striped pajamas pulling Thomas Wayne behind him.

"Howwwwwww come you're never this joyful every other morning when I wake you up," Thomas asked his son not bothering to stifle his yawn. Thomas wore green silk pajamas with a deep red robe over them, his black hair was messy and his brown eyes still filled with sleep.

"Cause its Christmas!" Bruce exclaimed.

"Oh sure...just because gifts await you have to get up extra early," Thomas said rolling his eyes. "You know maybe I'll just go back to bed."

Bruce dropped his father's hand and turned around a look of complete horror written across his face. "Y-you can't we always make cinnamon rolls Christmas morning...it's—it's tradition." Bruce whispered.

Thomas looked down at his son in surprise, "Bruce it was just a joke, I wouldn't break tradition." Thomas picked Bruce up and began walking towards the kitchen, "Let's see if Alfred will help." Bruce nodded.

Terry and Wally followed the pair as the wandered through the manor to the large Wayne kitchen. Alfred was in the kitchen pulling out mixing bowls and cooking utensils. "Ah, morning Master Thomas, Young Master Bruce."

"Morning Alfred!" Bruce chirped, pushing off his father's chest, a clear sign of wanting to get down.

Thomas set his son down, "M-mmmerry Christmas Alfred," Thomas yawned gladly accepting the cup of coffee Alfred offered him.

"It is a very Merry Christmas sir, and a white one at that," Alfred said with a smile briefly shifting his eyes out the large kitchen window to the lawns.

Bruce ran to the booth-like table in the far corner of the kitchen. He clambered onto one of the benches and pressed his face and hands to the cold surface of the window. The lawns were covered with a fresh layer of snow and large fat flakes still fell from the grey sky. Bruce turned back to father and his grandfather figure, "Can we go sledding later?"

"And skip the presents?" Thomas asked teasingly, "Sure!"

"That's not what I meant dad!" Bruce whined, "I meant after we open presents."

Thomas let out an extremely exaggerated sign, "I guess so." Bruce smiled and climbed off the bench and hugged his father.

"I believe we should start on those cinnamon rolls if they are to be done before Madam Martha is awake." Alfred said.

Wally turned to Terry as the trio began creating the dough for the pastries. "So what do you think this is?"

"Bruce's last Christmas," Terry replied.

"Oh..." Wally felt guilt well up in his gut for some reason, "When did his parents...?"

"July." Terry stated.

There was a loud rumble and the whole manor trembled and Terry and Wally were pitched forward into blackness.

To be continued…

Note: Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are a greatly appreciate, so is constructive criticism, but no flames.

-Jopo :)