A JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST

Time began flowing backwards for Bruce Wayne as his many years of life began flashing through his mind as he neared death's final door.

The year was 2014 as he stood alone, on an overcast rainy day, in front of a coffin next to where his parent's graves were located. He was deeply saddened as he observed Alfred Pennyworth's final resting place. His longest living friend and confidant had finally succumbed to old age.

He now felt well and truly alone in the world. The death of the man who had been like a father to him would soon be followed by five years of becoming a depressed and reclusive hermit. He would not speak to or be seen by anyone in public again until the next funeral he would be in attendance for in the year 2019 as he buried yet another long time friend.

The loss of Harvey Dent was ultimately the catalyst that would bring Bruce Wayne back into the world, followed shortly by the reemergence of Batman.

Time then went further backwards to the year 2004. Bruce Wayne, clad in his Batman outfit for the last time for the next fifteen years, stood over an unconscious Jason Todd. The young man was dressed as the Red Hood and the two of them had just concluded a fierce fight against one another.

Bruce Wayne had taught him everything he had ever known in the art of combat fighting and the young pupil had been an exemplary student. When the two of them had begun the battle against one another, the forty-six year old senior had doubted whether or not he would be able to defeat his former protege.

Alas, the battle had ended in his favor, but just barely. Batman removed the defeated Red Hood's mask and underneath it was the brutally beaten visage of Jason Todd. The Dark Knight had known that if the erratic youth were to continue his lethal vigilante crusade that more innocent lives would inevitably be lost. That was why he could not afford to hold his punches back against the boy whom he had grown to love as his very own son.

The memory then shifted to a few days later when Bruce Wayne left the catatonic Jason Todd in the care of Arkham Asylum attendants. He watched with great sadness as the young man was wheeled away in a wheelchair. He was clad in a straight jacket, with a blank face devoid of all thought, emotion, or even a personality.

That same night, Bruce Wayne secured the Batsuit in a vault for what he thought was going to be the last time. He swore to himself that he was done being Batman... forever.

Time went backwards to the year 2000. Batman was dressed in his black leather Batsuit that he'd most commonly worn before he began donning the more tactically gray uniform that he would wear in the latter years of his crime fighting career. He rushed across the rooftop to stop Jason Todd, who was clad in his Robin outfit, and who was proceeding to beat a man to a bloody pulp.

Robin had relentlessly chased the man onto the roof, believing that he had snatched a purse from a helpless lady. Batman pulled his protege off of the man whom he had been pulverizing with his fists. The man was laying on his back, his face beaten beyond recognition. He was then rushed to the hospital where he soon died from the injuries that he had sustained from Robin's assualt.

Before the man had died, he revealed to the police that he had been trying to return the purse to it's rightful owner. The lady who owned the purse corroborated his story as she had accidentally left it at a train station. She'd asked her son to go and retrieve it for her. Before he could return the purse back to his mother, Robin had taken pursuit of the man and chased him onto a roof where he had dealt the fatal beating of the lady's son.

The police concluded that a mugger must have tried to take the purse from him but was unsuccessful in stealing it. The man had managed to keep possession of his mother's purse but had lost his life in the process. Bruce Wayne did not dissuade them of their theory as he was trying to protect his ward from serving a life in prison. He did, however, take Jason's Robin outfit from him and locked it up.

Jason was unrepentant of his actions and argued that it had been just a simple mistake. Bruce argued that the brutal beating that he had given to the man, whom he had thought was just a simple mugger at the time, had been too extreme and that he would no longer be his partner in fighting crime. He said that it was time for his young ward to attend college and to find a career that didn't consist of being a vigilante crime fighter.

Jason did not take kindly to being kicked off of the team and angrily left his home. Bruce would not see his protege again for a few years until he resurfaced as the remorseless vigilante known as the Red Hood.

Jason Todd's tactics had become even more brutal as the Red Hood. He had no compunction about killing the criminals he fought. On more than one occasion, his tenacity for killing his enemies had resulted in more than a few casualties of innocent bystanders. He viewed the collateral damage as necessary sacrifices in his campaign to eliminate the threat of Gotham City's criminal element.

It was not long before Batman took it upon himself to put a stop to the Red Hood's bloody rampage. Once he had learned of the vigilante's true identity, he tried unsuccessfully to reason with his former ward. Jason didn't want to hear anything he had to say and soon the once Dynamic Duo were facing off against each other as mortal enemies.

Time started moving backwards again, but at a much more rapid rate this time. He briefly glimpsed the memory of when he'd first encountered a fourteen year old Jason Todd, who was unsuccessfully trying to steal the wheels off of his Batmobile in the year of 1994.

The boy had tried running away from the imposing figure of Batman once he'd discovered that the Caped Crusader had snuck up on him from behind. His escape had proven unsuccessful once Batman subdued him with his grappling gun. Jason was then taken to the nearest orphanage as an unwitting passenger inside of the Batmobile. Before the week was out, he found himself in the enviable position of being adopted by a wealthy philanthropist known as Bruce Wayne.

It was now the summer of 1993 when Bruce Wayne had managed to track down Selina Kyle in Rome just six months after she'd faked her death in Gotham City. The reunion was a passionate one. The next morning when he woke up following their romantic encounter the previous night, he was alone. There was no indication that Selina had ever been there. He wondered if the whole sexual encounter had just been an erotic fantasy that he had dreamed about. He tried locating her again but ultimately never managed to do so.

A crestfallen Bruce Wayne returned back to Gotham City, completely unaware that his one night stand with Selina Kyle would result in the birth of a son that he'd know nothing about for the next twenty-five years.

Things were moving even more rapidly backward through time. 1992 flew by in the blink of an eye. He had met Selina Kyle aka Catwoman during Christmas time of that year. He faced off against Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin who had managed to frame Batman for a murder that he did not commit. It had taken the combined efforts of both Commissioner James Gordon and Harvey Dent to clear that mess up before people started trusting the Caped Crusader again.

It was now 1989, the year that Batman had risen to prominence as a protector of Gotham City. He'd faced off against perhaps his most diabolical adversary that year. The Joker, a man who had once been Jack Napier and in his younger years had murdered both of Bruce Wayne's parents.

Bruce had also met the woman who was undoubtedly the love of his life. Vicki Vale. Their relationship had been fierce and passionate but unfortunately had reached it's end in the span of six months just shortly before the New Year of 1990.

Time was inexorably continuing it's backward trajectory throughout his life. 1988 marked the year of Bruce Wayne's return to Gotham City after his ten year sojourn from abroad. He took over as the head CEO of Wayne Enterprises and within six months of his return, he donned his cape and cowl for the first time, giving birth to the hero soon to be known as The Batman.

The decade of the 1980's continued spinning backwards. He spent several years in Japan, training in the art of becoming a ninja. He trained alongside some of the greatest martial artists of the 20th century and infiltrated several criminal organizations, learning the way a criminal's mind operated.

The year of 1978 saw a twenty year old Bruce Wayne disappear for the next ten years. It had been commonly believed amongst the Gothamites for the next decade that he was actually dead. The 1970's flew backwards in time, which was a very dark time for the adolescent Bruce Wayne. He was a very quiet and reclusive child that had kept mostly to himself, following his parent's murders.

It was now the year of 1968 when the fast moving backward timeline came to an abrupt halt on one particular day. It was a memory that a ten year old Bruce Wayne had never retained. It was a pertinent memory that his young mind could never have known would unveil a very important detail that would not come to light until over fifty years later.

WAYNE MANOR (1968)

A young Bruce Wayne peeked into his father's study room.

He knew he wasn't supposed to be near his father's study when he had company inside but it was his tenth birthday today and he was ready to go to the Monarch Theatre like his father had promised. Mom had been upstairs for the past thirty minutes getting ready.

Sitting across from his father, Thomas Wayne, was an elegant looking man dressed in a blue pinstripe suit. Standing against the fireplace mantle beside the elegant dressed man was a young man who was dressed similarly but he wore a fedora on his head and was lazily chewing on a toothpick.

Thomas Wayne sipped scotch from an expensive looking glass. "So, what brings the illustrious Carmine Falcone himself to my home? On my son's birthday, no less?"

The man called Falcone shrugged. "You've been a hard man to get in contact with, Mr. Wayne. Every time I've tried making an appointment with your office, I keep getting shunned."

"That should probably tell you something, shouldn't it?" Thomas asked with a smirk.

The young man with a toothpick glared at him. "Show a little respect when you talk to Mr. Falcone."

Falcone held up a hand. "Behave yourself, Jack." He then addressed Thomas. "You'll have to forgive Mr. Napier, here. He's an impetuous young lad, but he's loyal."

"Loyalty is admirable," Thomas agreed. "But speaking out of turn to his betters, is not."

The young man called Jack Napier sucked on his teeth as he stared coldly at Thomas.

Falcone chuckled. "I've always admired you, Thomas. You never were a man to mince words. My partner tried to talk me out of coming here to meet with you tonight, but I felt this meeting was necessary."

"Carl Grissom was always a little smarter than you were, anyway." Thomas bluntly stated.

Falcone stared at him coldly before continuing. "Be that as it may, I had to ask you in person. Why did you cut ties with us? Without our funds and resources, Wayne Enterprises would not be what it is today."

Thomas answered. "Why do you think, Falcone? When I learned who you and Grissom truly were, I couldn't allow my company to continue being associated with your kind of people."

"You didn't mind our money in the beginning."

"That was before I knew about your criminal dealings," Thomas said. "And I paid back that money with considerable interest. Therefore, with all debts having been paid in full, our business has now concluded."

Falcone shook his head. "We didn't invest in your business as charity or as a debt to be paid back. We wanted to profit from your profit and it always helps to be connected to a legitimate philanthropic enterprise."

Thomas stood up and upon noticing young Bruce peeking though the door, addressed the two well dressed goons. "My company will not be tied to your organisation in any way. That is the end of this discussion. Now, I promised my son that I would take him out for his birthday, so I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. Once you exit from these premises, you will not be welcomed to ever return."

Falcone stood up from the chair that he had been occupying and sighed as he straightened out the wrinkles from his coat. "I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Wayne. I had such high hopes for you. It appears my hope has been misplaced as you're just another meddlesome rich fool."

Thomas smiled smugly. "It's better to be a rich meddlesome fool than a rich meddlesome criminal."

Falcone chuckled as he exited the office and walked right past young Bruce without even giving him a single glance. Napier flicked his chewed up toothpick at Thomas as he followed behind Falcone. He glanced down at the young boy as he passed by and winked at him.

Once they were gone, Thomas knelt down in front of his son. "What are you doing, nosey son of mine?"

Bruce smiled guilty. "Pretending to be a detective."

Thomas laughed heartily. "And a superb detective, you'd make. Now, why don't you go get your mother before we're late for the show."

Young Bruce ran off excitedly to do just that. He was completely unaware that in just four hours time, his life would be changed forever as he and his family traversed down that fateful alley after leaving the Monarch Theatre.

ARKHAM ASYLUM (PRESENT DAY)

Bruce Wayne's eyes snapped open as consciousness returned to him and he gasped desperately for the breath that he'd been deprived of for the past two minutes. He noticed that his son was leaning over him, looking terrified and relieved all at once.

"I thought I had lost you!" Damian exclaimed.

Bruce smiled as he sat up on the floor, "Not yet."

Damian helped him up and onto his feet. He motioned toward the unconscious man laying on the ground. "Who the hell is he?"

"Just another psycho," Bruce answered dismissively.

He tried to walk around the table but abruptly lost his balance. Damian caught his father before he fell back onto the ground. Bruce used his son and the table that he'd just recently been strapped down to for support.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts and equilibrium as he contemplated over all of the memories that he'd just revisited during his recent near death experience. "I have to get to Falcone's place, right now."

"Why?" Damian asked, concerned. "I think you'd better go to the hospital, instead. You were dead only just a minute ago."

"Two-Face is going there to confront him tonight," Bruce answered. He pulled the mask that his son had removed during CPR back onto his head, thus transforming himself into Batman once again.

"That's a good thing," Damian said. "Let Dent give the old man what he deserves."

Batman stood up straight, having somewhat regained his balance, and spoke sternly to his son. "That sounds like something Jason Todd would have said, Damian. You're a cop and you know that there is a right way of doing things and a wrong way of doing them."

"I was a cop," Damian corrected. "I'm not anymore and Falcone deserves to die after all of the innocent lives that he's been responsible for killing. He murdered my mother, or don't you remember!?"

Batman nodded. "I remember, Damian. He is also responsible for the death of my parents."

Damian was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I was just reminded of a long forgotten memory while you were trying to resuscitate me," Batman explained. "Jack Napier didn't randomly kill my parents because he wanted to rob them. He worked for Falcone and he was sent to kill my father after he had refused to have anything to do with his criminal organization."

Damian was astounded at this sudden revelation. "Then let Two-Face, a man who was brutally scarred due to Falcone's machinations, handle this. Carmine Falcone made his own bed. Now let him lay in it."

"And what if Two-Face dies in the pursuit of his vengeance?" Batman asked. "Junior is a good man and if I can save him from himself, I will or I'll die trying."

"I already watched you die one time already," Damian stated. "I'm not keen on the idea of watching it happen twice in one night. If you're truly hell bent on trying to save Falcone's life, then I'm going to help you do it."