Thomas gets his chance at a new life, though he still needs a purpose.

I do not own DC, Batman or any related works.

Chapter 11: Oracle

The Clocktower

Barbara Gordon-Grayson sat back in her chair, nursing her third cup of coffee close to her lips and observing an underground weapon's deal that was about to be broken up by Black Canary and Barbara's new protégé.

She had discovered Harper Row when the young woman had managed to not only discover Oracle's camera network but had reworked them to cover several blind-spots that Barbara hadn't realised the camera network had.

After getting over the hit to her ego Barbara saw some raw potential in the girl. She was always on the lookout for new talent and Harper was one of the best she had seen in a long time.

So, after promising to put her brother Cullen in a better school and a promise of a new apartment with all the equipment she could imagine, Harper Row had signed up as a junior member of the Birds of Prey under the codename Bluebird.

Barbara was taken out of her musings by an alert coming up on her screen informing her that her husband, father-in-law and newly arrived grandfather-in-law had arrived.

Making sure that Black Canary and Bluebird had finished up safely Barbara set her equipment to automatic and moved away from the set-up.

She thought about Thomas as she moved to the living room of the tower. She couldn't imagine what he has been going through, losing first his son, then his wife and now his entire world. Nothing could compare to that.

She shuddered at the thought of losing so much and instead focused on the task at hand. Creating an identity was child's-play to her and Bruce could do it himself. But she had a feeling that he wants it to be perfect, hence why she is making it up.

Barbara had just pulled out the laptop she had been using to work on the ID when her husband and their two guests entered the room.

The first thing she noticed was how similar Bruce and Thomas looked. There was an almost uncanny resemblance between the two men and she and pretty much everyone could see that they were father and son.

Dick and Bruce greeted her, Dick with a kiss and Bruce with a hug, before sitting down and allowing Thomas to step forward.

"Thomas Wayne. It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Grayson." He says, polite and polished with a hand held out.

Barbara smiled and took the hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well Dr Wayne." She replies, remembering that Thomas was a Doctor.

"Please, Thomas will do. I'm pretty sure my doctorate isn't relevant anymore." He corrects as he sits down.

"Then I insist on Barbara." She said, smiling warmly at the old man. Bruce visibly relaxed at their interaction. He was obviously worried about what Barbara thought of his father, as she could easily destroy him both digitally and physically if he annoyed her enough.

With the greetings, out of the way Barbara and Thomas got down to business. They both agreed that it would be virtually impossible to bring Thomas back from the grave, not because it was beyond Barbara's ability as a hacker, but because of the almost mythic story of Thomas and Martha Wayne's death and the impact it had on the city.

If it turned out that Thomas was once again alive it could have a detrimental effect on that legacy and its impact.

With that decided Barbara created Thomas Anderson, a man with the same age and date of birth as the deceased Thomas Wayne according to his birth certificate. He is also a former doctor, who after the death of his wife decided to leave the country and his place of birth and travel the world for many years as a way to handle the grief, with documentation proving this.

He has now returned and has decided to make a better use of his life and to reconnect with his surviving family.

Thomas looks at his new past and is quietly amazed by what the daughter of his closest ally can do, even his Oracle was not capable.

That reminded him to find the alternate version of Selina. Hopefully she had avoided his versions fate. He'd have to ask Bruce later.

Soon everything was set up and Thomas Wayne was now known as Thomas Anderson. Thomas didn't know how to feel. Obviously, he was extremely gracious for what Barbara had done for him but now that he had the actual means he had no idea what he was going to do with his life besides connect with his now much larger family.

He decided not to dwell on it as he and Bruce thanked Barbara profusely and made sure that the couple came to dinner later tonight.

Bruce and Thomas then left the Gordon-Grayson household and headed off in the car. Thomas thought that they were heading back to the Manor however he noticed Bruce was driving further into the city.

"Bruce." He asked.

"Yes Father," Bruce replied serenely.

"Why are we heading into the city?"

"Because you have another appointment."

"With who?"

Bruce didn't answer but he didn't need to as he pulled the car into a parking space on the street, opposite an unassuming building. Bruce then got out and crossed the street, Thomas following close behind.

Once he was standing in front of the building Thomas noticed the sign in front of it;

'North Borough Community centre.'

Since Thomas was also a detective it took him just a send to work out why Bruce had taken him here.

"AA meets here." He stated mater of factly.

"I thought you would want to get it started soon." Bruce replies, turning his head to look at his father.

Thomas takes a deep breath but doesn't turn around. Instead he squares his shoulders and takes a step forward into the building. Bruce quickly puts a pair of glasses on as a simple disguise.

The woman at the desk informed him that a meeting was just about to start and was taking place in room 3.

Bruce asked if he would like to go in with him but Thomas declined.

"This is something I have to do myself." He reasoned.

"I'll wait out here for you then."

Thomas walked out ninety minutes later with various thoughts running through his head.

It had hit him like a sack of bricks when he was in there. It was the first time he had ever openly admitted that he was an alcoholic, not just agreeing with someone's accusations.

While it had been daunting it had also been freeing and had got him thinking. If this world was the same as his world up until the death of his son, then some people may still be around like Alfred, including another old friend.

Bruce was still in the waiting room when Thomas came back, like he said although he was on his phone.

Bruce must have sensed him coming because he looked up and pocketed the phone, before getting up.

"You ok?" He asked as they left.

"I think so." Thomas answered as they neared the car.

"That's good." Bruce didn't want to push too much.

The pair entered the car and Bruce was about to drive off before Thomas spoke up.

"If it's ok with you I'd like to head to one last place. There's an old friend I'd like to see." Thomas said. Bruce was curious as far as he knew Thomas wouldn't know many people in this world.

"Ok. Where would this friend be?"

"The Free Clinic in Crime Alley."

To be continued….

Surprise, not dead. Sorry this took so long but just lost my inspiration and was just overwhelmed with college and work. And no promises that it will get any better. I'm sorry but that's the way it is.

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