CRIME ALLEY

Bruce Wayne slowly approached the place that had changed his life forever. He wasn't sure why he had went there or at what point he had decided to come there. He hadn't been there in years. Their was a time when he had visited the place once every year.

It was the place where his parents had been murdered by Jack Napier. It was known as Crime Alley. On the anniversary of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder, he would always go there and honor their memory. He realized he hadn't been there in fifteen years. Since he had stopped being Batman.

It wasn't until he had left Arkham Asylum that he had realized that it was almost the anniversary of his parent's death. He had avoided the place for so long because he felt that he had betrayed them since he'd stopped being Batman.

Why come here now then? He wondered to himself.

He heard church bells going off in the distance, bringing in midnight. It was now the day that his parent's had died on.

A slight drizzle began to fall from the sky but he took no notice. He just stood there silently and stared down at the pavement where he'd seen his parent's draw their last breaths. The memory of that fateful night always cut him like a knife. A solitary tear fell from his left eye and trickled down his cheek.

Then he heard the laughter. Not the laughter he had encountered the previous night in his home but the laughter of some punks approaching him from behind.

He sighed and turned around to see four member of the Mutant Gang approaching him.

One of them who had a dark red mohawk brought out a switch blade. "Hey, old pops. You came to the wrong neck of the woods tonight. We're gonna slice you up real nice."

Bruce stared at them coldly and resigned himself to this. "Come on."

The red haired mohawk mutant chuckled, "You wanna die, old man? You seem like you want it. Kinda takes the fun outta this. Come on and beg a little."

The red haired mohawk mutant sliced at him and Bruce easily evaded him, caught his arm in mid swing and then drove his elbow into the mutant's skull. He fell down cold and unconscious.

The next mutant came at him swinging. Bruce dodged each blow and then caught the attacker's fist in the midst of one swing and kicked him in his left knee, thus breaking his knee cap. The attacker fell down, howling in pain.

The final two attacker's tried for a different tactic and both rushed him at the same time. He easily evaded one of them and then grabbed the other by his blue mohawk. He spun around and rammed the blue mohawk mutant's head into the face of the one he had evaded. That one fell clutching his broken nose.

Bruce then slammed the blue haired mohawk mutant's head down into the pavement, knocking him out cold.

With the four of them neutralized, Bruce calmly walked away, leaving Crime Alley behind.

He used to always bring roses for his parent's on the anniversary of that day but seeing as he didn't have any, he felt that leaving four scumbags broken and bleeding there was worthy recompense.

He couldn't help but smile. Damn, that felt good.

He was only about a block away before he heard a siren approach him from behind. He turned around and saw a police cruiser stop a few feet from him. The cop exited the vehicle and he immediately recognized him as the cop that had glared at him at Harvey Dent's funeral.

"A little late for an old man like you to be out here in these parts." Kyle stated coldly.

Bruce was a little pissed at the young cop's condescending tone toward him. No respect for elders these days.

"Isn't it a little past your bedtime, Officer… Kyle, is it?"

"Maybe rich pricks like you can sleep soundly while innocent people are getting murdered left and right but I can't. This is when the scum come out to play. I plan on doing something about it."

Bruce smiled, instantly taking a liking to the young cop. "Well, just around the block are four scumbags you can pick up. They tried taking out an old man."

Kyle studied him for a moment, "Seeing as you have no marks on you I take it they didn't fair so well. Are they part of the Mutant Gang?"

Bruce nodded.

Silence followed between the two men for several moments before Bruce decided to break it. "I can't help but notice that you have a certain animosity toward me, Kyle. Why is that?"

"My reasons are my own, old man." Kyle retorted.

Bruce nodded. "Fair enough."

He started to walk away, leaving the young man to his brooding but then stopped and turned back.

"I do have one suggestion for you, Officer Kyle," he began. "Instead of traipsing around with your police car trying to stop the scumbags, try a less direct approach. You want to stop creeps like these Mutants then they don't need to see you coming a mile away."

Kyle seemed to really consider his words. Bruce started to walk away again and then Kyle came to a decision.

"I'm your son."

Bruce stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned around and stared at the young cop in awe.

"I swore to myself I wasn't going to tell you," Kyle continued. "Don't really know why I just did. But there it is."

Bruce thought for a long moment. He was completely at a loss for words. He then looked at Kyle's badge again and then his eyes widened in shock.

"Selina! She's your mother."

Kyle nodded. "That's right."

"I never knew. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kyle said. "I'm not. I got along fine without you and I'll continue to do so. Have a good night, Wayne."

With that said, Kyle got back in his car and reversed to head in the direction of the downed mutant gang members.

Bruce stood their staring after the car as his just revealed son disappeared toward Crime Alley.

A son. My son.

WAYNE MANOR

He was a child again.

The three of them left the theater together and everything was alright in the world again. He was in the safe comfort of walking in between his mother and father. They were going home.

Then the shadows gave way to a man with a gun. Two shots rang out in the night and his world was changed. Forever.

Standing there was not the man he had anticipated. It was supposed to be a young Jack Napier but instead, standing in his place was the pasty white grinning face of…

Jason Todd!

Bruce Wayne woke up in a cold sweat.

It had been an all too familiar nightmare but with a slight twist.

He climbed out of bed and walked to the sink in his bathroom. He ran cold water and washed his face, trying to get the image of Jason Todd as the Joker out of his head. He looked in the mirror at his reflection and was shocked at what he saw.

It was his same aged face staring back at him but with a slight change. His mustache. It was gone. He didn't remember ever shaving it.

He had come back home after facing the Mutant members and talking with his… son. He still couldn't fathom that he had a grown son and he was a police officer, no less.

Then he had taken a shower and gone to bed… No… He had taken a shower and then proceeded to shave his face while in the shower. Then he went to bed. He had shaved his face without even thinking about it.

Damn, I kind of liked that mustache!

A crash in his bedroom startled him. He rushed out of the bathroom, ready to face whatever waited for him inside of his room. He saw that a window had been broken and what he saw resting on his bed proved to be something that he was not ready to face.

A live bat sat on his bed and was facing him. It screeched loudly and seemed to reverberate throughout his head.

He stared imploring at the bat. After several moments of he and the bat staring at one another, he nodded in acceptance.

"Alright. So be it."