Chapter 38: Apathy

Years have passed since Danny and Barbara got married. They now had a daughter named Jamie who, like her father, had ghost powers and wanted to be an astronaut. "Breakfast is ready!" A maid announced.

"Thank you, Ella." Danny replied as he, Barbara and Jamie approached the table. He then addressed his daughter. "Jamie Fenton, you're not planning to have breakfast with your helmet on, are you?"

"Oops." Jamie said. "I was playing astronaut."

"Jamie, I'm an astronaut and I don't keep wearing my helmet during all my time on Earth." Danny argued.

"Aunt Jazz says you did back when you were my age, Dad." Jamie pointed out.

"Stupid nosy sister." Danny muttered. Wanting a change of subject, Danny addressed his wife. "Barbara, are you the lawyer who'll prosecute the people who abducted Bunny Vreeland?"

"Yes, Danny." Barbara answered.

"Did Batman really need to draw a gun on them?" Jamie asked.

"Yes." Barbara quickly answered, confusing Jamie.

"Mom, how come it's you who know the answer?" Jamie asked. "Dad is the one connected to Batman and the Justice League."

"What do you say, Barbara?" Danny asked Barbara. "Do you think she's ready to know the truth?"

"Jamie, can you keep a family secret?" Barbara asked her daughter.

"Mrs. Fenton, are you sure it's wise?" Ella asked.

"Yes, Ella." Barbara answered.

"What's the secret?" Jamie asked.

"I won't tell before you answer my question, Jamie." Barbara replied.

"I can keep the secret, Mom." Jamie answered.

"I was Batgirl." Barbara told Jamie.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Jamie laughed. "That's harder to believe than the rumors about Batman being Bruce Wayne!"

"See that target on the wall, Ms. Skeptic?" Barbara asked Jamie with a malicious smile while pointing at a wall across the house. After Jamie nodded, Barbara drew a batrang and hit the target. "I still haven't missed it."

"Ooooooookay." Jamie said. "You were Batgirl. So, when the Joker crippled you, you were Batgirl or Barbara Gordon?"

"I was Barbara Gordon, Jamie." Barbara answered.

"So, is Grandpa Jim Batman?" Jamie asked.

"No." Barbara answered while laughing at the idea of her father being Batman.

"Then who's he?" Jamie asked.

"It's not our secret to tell." Danny answered. "Don't you have school?"

The fear of being late made Jamie stop the talk. After Jamie flew to school and Barbara took a cab to the District Attorney's office, Danny flew to the Batcave. "Batman?"

"What do you want?" Bruce rudely asked.

"I'm just concerned." Danny replied. "How're you?"

"I drew a gun." Bruce grunted. "I drew a gun. Do you know how hard it is for someone who, as a kid, was forced to watch his parents being gunned down? And I drew a gun on people I could've easily defeated without any weapons had I still been in my prime. I'm retiring. Looking in retrospect, I'm surprised I'm still alive."

"So, I guess I'll become Gotham's protector." Danny suggested.

"Suit yourself." Bruce grunted.

"Danny Phantom?" Helena Wayne asked as she and her mother entered the Batcave. "Are you here to give me hints?"

"Hints?" Danny asked in confusion.

"My daughter wants to become a crimefighter, Danny." Selina Wayne explained. "And Bruce won't help other than teaching her how to fight."

"If she wants to risk her life like that upon entering adulthood, it's her choice, but I won't let another kid into this life after what the Joker did to Tim." Bruce sternly stated.

After that, there wasn't anything Danny would say on the matter.

"Speaking of kids, how's Jamie?" Selina asked.

"She's fine, Mrs. Wayne." Danny answered. "She's at school. Speaking of that, shouldn't Helena be at school as well?"

"The school Helena attends is closed for bug spraying, Danny." Bruce explained.

"The best part is not having to endure Paxton Powers telling me how he's a better match for me than Harry Sims since he's rich and, according to him, our families' companies will merge together under his father's command." Helena snorted.

"Over my dead body." Bruce replied.

"Derek Powers says it's not over." Selina teased her husband.

"If not for Fenton Enterprises investing on my company, I could be worried about Powers Technology but the Fentons are diminishing my worries." Bruce stated. "Speaking of worries, has Ella given any reason to believe she'll betray our secrets?"

"Mr. Wayne, you were the one who checked her credentials and I'm still afraid of asking how you made sure she could be trusted." Danny answered. "Speaking of secrets, Jamie now knows her Mom used to be Batgirl."

"About time." Helena muttered. "I was her age when I learned Dad used to be Batman."

"Used to?" Bruce asked with a glare that made Danny flinch but had no effect on Selina and Helena."

"You just said you were retiring." Helena argued.

"In my mind, I'll always be Batman." Bruce stated.

"Only in mind." Danny muttered.

"I heard that!" Bruce shouted.

"Are you Kryptonian?" Danny asked the retired Dark Knight.

Later on, school was over for Jamie. She was about to fly home when she was approached by a newcomer. "Nick Grayson, or should I call you Prince Birdfire?" Jamie teasingly asked.

"You don't need to use my Tamaranean name and title on Earth, Jamie." Nick answered. "So, how about we race to Titans Tower?"

"I must tell my parents first." Jamie replied. "Did you even go see Grandpa Brucie and Grandma Selina?"

"Not yet." Nick answered, not wanting to admit he didn't intend to.

"Let's meet back here after we talk to them?" Nick suggested.

"It's a date!" Jamie replied. The two flew in separate ways and Jamie phased herself into a room where her mother and Sam Young were reading documents regarding the Vreeland case.

"Jamie!" Barbara was shocked. "How many times have I told you to use the regular entrance?"

"Sorry, Mom." Jamie replied. "Nick challenged me to a race to Jump City."

"Alright but be back on time for the gala hosted by Bruce Wayne." Barbara replied. "And tell Dick and Starfire I said hi."

As far as the general public knew, Starfire married "Dick Grayson" instead of "Robin". Some web rumors even said that, as alien royalty, she chose Dick over Robin because Dick's a billionaire's former ward.

Twenty years later, a brown-haired boy was arguing with his equally brown-haired father. "I didn't start the fight." The boy said.

"I'll know the truth when I talk to the school counselor, Terry." The boy's father replied.

"No, you won't, because, like you, the school staff refused to listen, Warren McGinnis." A redhead woman said as she entered the room with a little boy whose hair was red like hers.

"I have more important things to worry about, Mary." Warren replied.

"Like what?" Mary McGinnis asked. "Helping Derek Powers to finally take over Wayne Enterprises?"

"Like preventing him from making chemical weapons!" Warren answered, shocking everyone.

"Awesome!" The redheaded boy exclaimed.

"Not awesome, Matt." Mary replied with a frown. "Warren, I know Derek Powers is bad news but, what makes you so sure he's crossing that line?"

"Harry gave me this pen drive." Warren explained. "From what I saw in here, he's developing a chemical gas."

"What does it do, Dad?" Matt excitedly asked.

"You don't want to know, son." Warren told his youngest.

"In that case, you should call the cops." Mary told her husband.

"Mom, they're in Derek Powers' pockets." Terry said.

"Not all of them, Terry." Mary said back. "If the Commissioner is in anyone's pockets, they're Bruce Wayne's and he wouldn't oppose to having the biggest threat to his control over Wayne Enterprises being sent to prison."

"I still have to figure out how not to be intercepted." Warren pointed out.

"In that case, Terry, go have fun with your friends." Mary said. "Matt and I will hide at a friend's house."

That night, Terry's fun was interrupted by a gang of delinquents who dressed like clowns in honor to the Clown Prince of Crime. They chased him to Wayne Manor, where an elderly Bruce Wayne beat them up and dissed their leader's claim of being the JokerZ. After the delinquents left, age caught up with Bruce and Terry took him back inside the mansion, where he stumbled into Bruce Wayne's secret.

Bruce and his hound Ace tried to run him out until Terry shouted "Powers is making chemical gas!"

"What?" Bruce asked and Terry explained about what his father told him. "Take me to this pen drive." Bruce ordered and, after Terry gave him directions, Bruce drove them to the McGinnis household, only to see some cops surrounding the place. Terry got off the car. "What happened?" He asked.

"I'm afraid I arrived too late to save your father, kid." A masked woman said and Terry quickly recognized her.

"Huntress?" Terry asked.

"I was informed your father had evidence that Derek Powers is making chemical gas." Huntress said and produced a pen drive. "Is that the pen drive?"

"Yes." Terry answered.

"Let's deliver it to the Commissioner so Powers will pay for it." Huntress said.

The next day, Derek Powers being arrested was the talk of practically everyone in Gotham City. "With all the chemical canisters found at Powers Technology, it seems Derek Powers will stay behind bars for a long time." A reporter announced. "Powers' son Paxton Powers gave the following statement to our international correspondent in Verdeza."

"Powers Technology is my grandfather's legacy." Paxton said. "I'll do my best to keep it alive and I'm certain the board will support me."

"But it's a vain hope." The reporter said. "During his time heading the Verdeza division of Powers Technology, Paxton Powers earned himself a reputation as a polluter and that's being held against him."

Bruce and Helena were watching it at the former's office. "Dad, will we buy them out?" Helena asked her father.

"No, let's make an offer that cuts off all ties between Paxton and his family's company." Bruce answered.

"I'll type a contract right now, Dad." Helena said and Bruce's intercom beeped. "Wayne." He said.

"Sir, a Mr. Terry McGinnis is here to see you." A secretary said.

"I don't recall that appointment." Bruce commented.

"I set it up." Helena said. "Let him in, please."

"Yes, Mrs. Sims." The secretary replied.

"Why did you invite him?" Bruce asked and grunted.

"Because, with your age, you need a personal assistant and, while Jamie, her Dad and I are away in league business, Gotham will need a Batman, Dad." Helena answered. "What do you say, McGinnis? Ready to be the Batman of the future?"

"Kid, you were in the cave and saw the old suits." Bruce said. "Do you think those bullet holes were mere decorations? I might hire you as a personal assistant but you won't touch that suit before becoming an adult."

THE END

Author's Note: Ella was named after a character of Sonic X.

Disclaimer: Harry Sims is Helena Wayne's boyfriend from the comics. The Harry mentioned by Warren McGinnis is another character.

Answer to Guest: I'm not making more After Many Dates fics.

Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Ele soube depois que o Homem-Aranha a prendeu.

Answer to Dan C (Chapter 1 Guest): There were no more than 450 at the time I read your question and this fic started in 2020.

Author's Note 2: Chapter edited in March 20th, 2022 to replace "End Chapter" with "THE END". The fic is over and sorry I didn't make it clear before.