A/N - Well, guess what - this isn't the penultimate chapter, after all! We're going to Chapter 52. Enjoy!


Chapter 50

It was a slightly somber family that greeted Bruce and Bane in the kitchen the following afternoon at 1:15 p.m.

Damian was quietly stirring a pan of eggs while Jason murmured advice over his shoulder, and Tim and Steph had taken pity on Harley and were cutting up the fruit salad at the island, but without extra chatter, as Steph gently swung her broken ankle to and fro from the stool she was seated on.

Alfred was pouring coffee and praising Harley's excellent table setting skills, making her giggle softly, but the energy of the entire room was muted, and Bruce could feel it.

"We're a bunch of Sad Susans this morning, I see," Bruce commented, pulling everyone's eyes to him.

Bane chuckled quietly in his ear.

"You kids know that we'll be seeing Jason and Harley again on Sunday for dinner," Bruce said pragmatically as he slipped from Bane's arm warmly slung around his waist, only to grab his fiancé's fingers in his and lead him to the table. "And Bane isn't going anywhere."

"But it will not be the same," Damian pouted.

Steph sighed and nodded in sad agreement and even Tim, who was trying to appear stoic, had a cast-down droop to his eyes.

"I know, habibi," Jason said, wrapping an arm around Damian's shoulders and kissing the top of his head, "but you can still call me every day, and you kids can come over to visit us, too."

"Change is the nature of life," Bane pointed out as he took his seat next to Bruce. "And new changes will bring new reasons to be grateful."

"And new reasons to be sad," Steph said despondently.

"Yes," Bane agreed, "that is true, Stephanie, but this is how life works. Fighting against the forces of the universe will only add unnecessary pain and sorrow to our lives. Let us mourn the losses with acceptance."

"I'm not so sure Brucie over here is gonna be doin' much mourning," Harley teased with a grin. "Bet you're kinda glad to be gettin' us outta your hair, huh?" she asked her father-in-law.

"No," Bruce said, with some small amount of surprise at his honesty. "Actually… I enjoyed having you here," he admitted.

Jason turned around from the stove to stare at his father. Bruce glanced his way and smiled sheepishly.

"I may have misjudged your wife at first, Jason," Bruce said. "And you," he added more quietly, meeting his once-estranged son's eyes with regret, apology, and love flowing out of his own in such force that Jason's little boy smile crept forward for the briefest of moments before he reddened and turned back to Damian's cooking.

It was enough, though, to make Bruce's heart flutter with warmth and contentment. Bane smiled knowingly at Bruce and squeezed his lover's hand, and when he made to let it go, Bruce gripped it tighter and kept them joined, putting an even bigger smile on Bane's face.

"Well," Alfred said, "I shall keep your bedroom aired out, in any case, Master Jason and Missus Harley, and at the ready for any occasion on which you choose to grace us again with your extended presence."

"Aw, thanks Alfie," Harley said. "We'll keep it in mind. 'Cause...maybe I didn't have such a bad time either, Brucie," she giggled.

"Maybe I didn't, either," Jason mumbled, turning his head back to catch his father's eye. "Plus, our apartment is kinda small," he said. "I mean, I love it, but if we ever start feeling cooped up…"

"There's nothing like bannister surfing to help you feel free," Tim said, making Jason grin.

"A sport in which I have yet to partake," Jason nodded. "And I gotta say, all these shiny marble floors are absolutely great for roller-skating."

"Master Jason!" Alfred barked, but Harley's squeal of delight drowned him out.

"We could totally play roller derby in here!" Harley screamed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. "Why didn't I think of that? Jay, you're a genius!"

"Aw, thanks, baby," he said, opening his arms wide as Harley scampered across the polished kitchen floor and flung herself around her husband, peppering him with kisses.

"I could pull you along in a wagon until your ankle gets better, babe," Tim said to Steph, whose face had started to look slightly envious at the idea of roller derby.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Steph said, perking up at the suggestion. "I could hold the hockey stick and take shots while you drive."

"There ya go," Tim said, smiling into a sweet nose nuzzle with his girlfriend that led to a kiss.

Alfred groaned.

"Oh, Alfred," Bruce said with a sympathetic tone but a twinkle in his eye, "look how happy it will make them."

"But my floors, sir!" Alfred moaned.

"Bruce and I will help you polish them afterwards," Bane promised. "As will the children."

Alfred sighed, but as he looked at the eagerly chattering family that only minutes ago had been down in the dumps, he couldn't help but allow a tiny smile to tug at the corner of his lips.

"Perhaps some sacrifices must be made for the good of the family," he said reluctantly.

Bruce reached out and squeezed his father's arm affectionately.

"That's growth, Alfred," he said.

"But do not think of touching my knives," Alfred hissed with a death glare.

"Never!" Bruce quickly swore. "Your kitchen is completely off limits except for supervised cooking."

"Supervised cooking by the children, sir," Alfred sniffed. "And Master Bane, well, of course you are welcome to cook anytime, my dear," Alfred preened. "But Master Bruce is not to be permitted near the stove or oven for any reason," he frowned.

"I remember my promise," Bruce laughed, "and trust me, I have no desire for a repeat of that awful day."

"That is a story you will have to tell me sometime," Bane said.

Bruce shuddered.

"I'm not sure I can bear to repeat it," he said. "Oh!" he said suddenly, sitting up straighter. "We have something else to tell everyone," he said, searching Bane's eyes for agreement.

His fiancé smiled and nodded, and Bruce took a deep breath.

"We have news," he said loudly, causing all the bustle in the kitchen to halt.

Six sets of eyes looked expectantly at Bruce and Bane.

"Upon careful consideration," Bruce said very seriously, fighting his smile, "Bane and I have decided to allow Damian to get his pilot's license."

There was a half a beat of silence before Steph screeched "Does that mean you're engaged?"

"Yes," Bane said, beaming proudly at Bruce as the rest of the family dissolved into whoops and cheers and hip-hip-hoorays, in Harley's case.


Despite breakfast being salvaged by cheerful chatter over flying lessons and wedding plans and roller derby tournaments, it was a glum family that stood in the foyer to say good-bye to Jason and Harley.

"It's just until Sunday," Jason promised the Batlings.

"It's practically here already!" Harley added sunnily.

"Whatever," Steph sighed, but Harley hugged her tight. "You call me whenever you need some girl talk in the meantime," Harley said. "Ok, chickie?"

"Ok," Steph mumbled into Harley's shoulder. "And thanks again for taking care of my bullies."

"Anytime, kiddo," Harley grinned. "And… I'm sorry again for the other thing," she said, reddening as she referenced sharing Steph's sexual assault history with Jay without permission.

"It's ok," Steph reassured her. "You didn't mean to. Thanks for supporting me about it, too, Jason," Steph added, turning to give her older brother a hug. "And for the lasers in my cowl!" she grinned more cheerfully.

"You're welcome," Jason smiled at her. "Get to practicing with them."

"Oh, I will," Steph said. "I'm so tired of batarangs I could barf."

"Well, now you got lasers and throwing knives," Jason laughed. "Hopefully that'll keep you busy until your ankle heals up."

Steph nodded.

"And then Batgirl will come back twice as badass," she said.

"You will not be using throwing knives on patrol, Steph," Bruce said wearily, making his daughter roll her eyes and giggle.

Meanwhile, Tim was hugging Harley good-bye.

"Thank you for helping Bruce," he whispered in Harley's ear. "We were really worried about him."

"I can see why," Harley said back quietly. "But he needed the emotional ass-kicking."

"Yeah," Tim smiled. "We thought it was gonna be the end of Batman forever when it first happened, but now…" Tim glanced over at Bruce, who was waiting patiently with his arm around Bane's waist to dole out hugs to Jason and Harley, with Alfred at their side.

"Now you got Batman 2.0 plus found out you're Batman 3.0," Harley grinned at Batboy.

"But we also got Batman 1.1," Tim said, his eyes filling with sudden emotion. "We still needed Bruce to be our parent and now he's back."

"And better maybe than he's been in years, huh?" Jason said in a hushed voice, joining both the hugs and the conversation.

Tim nodded and hugged Jason tightly.

"You be careful out there," Jason said sharply into Tim's ear. "Don't let me hear about another Robin getting killed. Or a Batgirl or a Bat-Mite," he said. "Watch out for them."

"I will," Tim promised.

"Excuse me," Steph said, thwacking Jason's leg with her crutch. "Bat-Mite and Batgirl will be watching out for Robin, too."

"And Bane will be watching out for all the Batlings, my friend, as Batman," Bane said to Jason, meeting the younger man's eyes steadily. "As will your father be watching from the Batcave when we are in the field. We will keep them safe."

"You'd better," Jason said. "Cause you and me and don't have any beef right now, Bane, but you get one of these kids killed…"

It was not Jason Todd and not only Red Hood, but a League Assassin who stared Bane down in the foyer of Wayne Manor, and despite Jason's younger years, Bane still felt a shiver slide down his spine at the unfinished threat.

Truly, young Jason was an excellent brother for the Batlings to have on their side, Bane thought with contentment. A man who could put fear into Bane was a man the Batlings wanted in their corner. A pity that Jason had decided to retire from his Red Hood days for the most part, Bane thought. He would have enjoyed more opportunities to work together with his young friend now that their road trip of revenge had drawn to a close.

Still, it was better for young Jason's mental health that he give up that which brought him no pleasure, and Bane still had Harley to look forward to ruling Gotham with, after all.

"I will miss you, baba," Damian pouted when it was his turn for a hug.

"You can call me tonight, habibi," Jason said in Damian's ear as he scooped his little son up against his chest.

"I will, baba," Damian said back as he and Osito clung to Jason's neck, reluctant to let him go.

"Hey," Jason added, keeping Damian and his bear squeezed tight, "I'm twice as smart as Pops, you know," he boasted with a wink for Bruce. "You can start coming over to do some of your home schooling with me a few days a week, if you want," he said.

"Really, baba?" Damian said, perking up.

"Sure," Jason said. "I can help you with English lit and your essays."

"And I could teach you psychology," Harley added over Jason's shoulder. "More ways for you to outwit the rogues."

Damian beamed.

"That would be most enjoyable, malika Harley," he said.

Harley's eyebrows went up as Jason, Bruce, and Bane gave Damian curiously surprised looks.

"What's malika?" Harley said.

"You said I could pick what to call you because you are married to baba and therefore like a parent to me," Damian said.

"Yeah," Harley said. "But you didn't want to call me nothin' like mom," she reminded Damian. "Which is totally fine."

"I picked malika because it sounds a little bit like ma or mom in English, but it is not at all the same," Damian said, reaching his arms out so Harley could hug him and Osito, too. "It is Arabic, but it does not mean mother."

"What's it mean then?" Harley said, meeting Jay's knowing, twinkling eyes.

"Queen," Damian replied in a very self-satisfied voice.

Harley laughed out loud in pleasure and spun Damian and Osito around in a circle.

"That makes you the prince, ya know," she teased when she set them down.

"Indeed it does," Damian beamed.

"Well, aamiir, you and your royal siblings have some training to get started on," Bruce said.

"Are you trying to get rid of us, father?" Damian asked suspiciously.

"The grown-ups don't want to be embarrassed when they cry saying good-bye to each other," Tim teased, reaching down to pick Damian up and plopping him and Osito on his shoulders.

"How many boxes of tissues do you need?" Steph grinned at the older members of the family as she hopped around to gain her footing with her crutches.

"Har, har," Bruce said, although he placed a steadying hand on Steph's back until she was situated, and even dropped a kiss on top of her head before she went swinging off with Tim and Damian towards the gym.

"Alfred will be very upset if the foyer floods with your tears," Tim called back over his shoulder as they left. "Try to restrain yourselves!"

Bruce snorted quietly, but the smile remained on his face until he looked at Jason and Harley and found himself yes, dammit, choking up. Just a little bit, but far more than he wanted to. He'd almost managed to cease his endless crying by this point and had enjoyed the reprieve, but, well, he supposed he couldn't begrudge himself a few extra tears for saying good-bye to his son.

His son to whom 'good-bye' wasn't actually a good-bye at all, but merely a 'see you soon,' although that gratitude was partly the cause of Bruce's emotion. Alfred gave Bruce a moment to pretend to salvage his dignity by stepping up first to hug Jason good-bye, while Bane wrapped Harley in a bear hug.

"I am grateful to you for giving an old man a second chance, Master Jason," Alfred whispered in his grandson's ear. "Undeserved though it certainly is."

"Aw, Al," Jason sighed as he buried his head in Alfred's shoulder and breathed in his comforting scents. "We all gotta move on," he said.

"It means the world that we are moving on together, my boy," Alfred sniffed.

"Yeah," Jason mumbled, his eyes looking suspiciously red by the time he pulled away from his grandfather.

He wiped his nose and turned to Bane, who was letting Harley go with giggles and promises to gossip later. Bane cracked his neck and Jason could see the shift as he slid into his more familiar personality.

"Young Jason," Bane rumbled, pulling him into an equally tight hug. "We completed our quest with valor," Bane said under his breath, so that Bruce couldn't hear.

"Yeah, we did," Jason grinned back at him.

He shot a sideways glance at Harley, though, who was hugging Alfred and promising to set her table at home with newfound care.

"I know it had unintended results," Jason said softly to Bane, "but -" he sighed. "Dammit, I can't help feeling glad we did it anyway," he muttered. "Just the way I'm wired, I guess," he said.

"Me as well," Bane freely admitted. He sighed, too. "Life is complicated, my friend. There are rarely clean solutions."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "Well," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "I'm glad at least that Harley's got so many people besides me, now, to help her pick up the pieces."

"Indeed," Bane smiled. "And I am most glad that she found you, my friend. And you her. You both deserve much happiness in your lives."

"Eh, I don't know about deserve," Jason chuckled wryly, "but I'm damn well gonna take it. And same for you," he said. "You and Pops. I'm glad things worked out," he smiled.

"Not nearly as glad as I am," Bane beamed with a laugh that made Bruce laugh, too, from behind him.

"I don't think either one of you can possibly be as happy about it as I am," Bruce said, as he wrapped his arms around his fiancé from behind, although that meant that he had to peek his head around Bane's meaty arm in order to see Jason.

"We shall argue who is happier for the rest of our lives, mi amor," Bane said happily, bending down to press a kiss to the top of Bruce's head.

"I can live with that," Bruce smiled under Alfred's approving eyes.

"Brucie!" Harley squealed, now that she was free of Alfred's arms. "Come give me a big ol' hug, you big ol' Bat," she giggled.

"Harley," Bruce sighed, but it was with fond reluctance and a rather large smile on his face. "Thank you," he said more seriously, as he gripped his daughter-in-law tight. "For everything," he said quietly. "I mean that," he said. "For helping me, and the kids, and I don't even know what would've happened to Gotham this week without any Bats patrolling - or to me if I'd tried to patrol."

"I know what woulda happened to you," Harley said, giving Bruce a very pointed look. "But Gotham woulda been just fine," she poo-poohed airily. "As if I wouldn't have kept things in check."

"A fact which I did not know at the beginning of the week," Bruce said with a wry grin, "but which I have now come to appreciate beyond measure."

"Captain Cold really liked our new outfits, by the way," Harley beamed at Bruce. "I think he kinda regrets not asking you out before you got taken off the market."

Bruce's eyes flew open in shock and Bane let out a low growl from beside him, which made Jason start laughing so hard he started wheezing, and even Alfred tittered quietly behind a well-placed hand.

"Snart ain't gonna have one ounce of interest left once he realizes who exactly took Pops off the market, babe," Jason chortled to his wife. "He's gonna be colder towards Pops than his damn ice gun."

"As well he should be," Bane sniffed. "I would hate to have to… eliminate … my competition," he said, cracking his knuckles.

"Babe," Bruce said in alarm. "No killing the competition."

Bane huffed.

"There is no competition, anyway," Bruce scoffed. "You're the only one I want. Forever, mi sol," he said, reaching his hand around Bane's neck so he could pull himself up into a tender kiss.

"Awww," Harley cooed, wrapping her own husband sideways in a hug as they smiled with Alfred, looking at the happy couple.

"Well," Alfred said when Bane and Bruce broke apart, "I believe the kitchen is calling me," he said. "I shall see you on Sunday, my dears," he said to Harley and Jason before turning and walking away.

"I shall assist you to the car with your luggage, Harley," Bane immediately said, picking up Harley's suitcase (which may have also most certainly been stuffed with a certain Robin's costume) and heading towards the front door.

Harley gave a soft, understanding smile to Jay before kissing him.

"Take your time," she said, cupping his face. Jason grabbed her hand and kissed the palm, making his wife's eyes sparkle, before he let her walk out the manor after Bane, shutting the door behind her.

Father and son looked at each other.

"Well," Jason said awkwardly, scuffing his shoe along the marble floor, although he was careful not to leave a mark.

"Thanks for taking care of Bane this week," Bruce said, making Jason smile.

"Thanks for taking care of Harley," Jason offered back. "She likes you."

"I like her, too," Bruce admitted with a grin. "Now that she's not trying to kill me anymore."

Jason snorted.

"That was well deserved and you know it, Pops," he said.

"I do know it, now," Bruce said seriously, meeting Jason's eyes with so much heartbreak and apology in his own that Jason had to swallow, fast, and blink even faster. "I love you, son," Bruce said, his eyes going soft and filling with tears that yeah, there was no way in hell he was going to be able to stop this time.

"I love you, too, Pops," Jason sighed, feeling the truth of his words tug at his soul; and even though they were tugging up a lot of mixed emotions, some of them still painful and probably always would be, maybe there was a flower beginning to bloom, too, out of the midst of the snarled mess of thorns.

And maybe Jason could live with that.

Scratch that, Jason thought, as his father pulled him into a tight, tight hug and held him like he'd never let him go again -

Jason could definitely live with that.


A/N - TWO CHAPTERS left to go! Arthur and Steph have a much-needed face to face coming up next chapter and then there's one chapter left after that.

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