Gifts From the Sea, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl

Batfam Bingo 2019: AU: Zoo

Chapter 40 - Contact (rough draft 2)

Bruce found it by accident.

San Francisco was visible in the distance as Bruce sailed around at sunset, hesitant to actually make contact with civilization. He eventually found exactly what he was looking for: an island too tiny for anyone to bother with, though this made it surprising that the bulk of it was taken up by a mysterious building.

Bruce moored the yacht and cautiously approached, wheeling Tim's suitcase behind him. The building was quiet and dark, so large that the rest of the island was just a narrow beach around its perimeter. It looked a little like an office building, and certainly like it had been well-funded at one point. There was a bit of graffiti and debris and a broken window or two, but overall, it seemed to be in decent shape for a place that might be abandoned.

The large monument sign near the pier was covered up. Bruce paused to peer under the tarp.

Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories

San Francisco Marine Campus

A S.T.A.R. Labs facility, then. If it was still active, Bruce would have immediately retreated, but the place looked desolate, and he highly doubted such a prestigious organization would tolerate graffiti and trash marring their property. After some hesitation, he fiddled with his shirt until half his face was obscured from potential security cameras and went to investigate the sheet of paper he could see fastened to the front door.

It was a notice stating that the facility had been shut down, all projects and equipment moved elsewhere. Peering in, Bruce could make out the sad remains of a lobby, empty except for a couple of vague structures and a bit of debris.

He would have soon retreated to the yacht and camped out for the night, but at that moment, the wind stuttered. He looked up just in time to see a large shadow open up in midair and a huge red furry shape and several smaller ones emerge from it. Bruce watched, frozen in surprise, as the Teen Titans soared to the roof, their chatter and laughter faintly audible amidst the wind. Then they were out of sight, and the building was soon as still and quiet as it had been before.

This was...the Titans' base. No one had ever managed to track them because they always disappeared into Raven's shadows after their public appearances, but...they were headquartered here. They must have found the abandoned facility and taken it over.

Bruce was still puzzling what to do about this information when the dragon made a reappearance, this time alone. It dropped off the roof, then glanced in his direction, caught sight of him, and stumbled in midair. It tumbled to the ground and splashed to an inelegant landing, then waded through the shallows toward him.

Bruce was not sure how he would have handled the situation if he'd been alone, but with a child to protect, he panicked. Knowing instinctively that there was no fleeing such a beast, he fumbled to unzip the suitcase and yank Tim out of it, rushing into the water and flinging the child as far into the waves as he could. Tim made no verbal sound, of course, but his tentacles thrashed wildly.

The dragon was still making a beeline for them. Its eyes were fixed, not on the man, but on the floundering octo-mer. Bruce desperately darted in front of the beast. "Hey! You want me, not him!"

The dragon paused, then leaned down to sniff at him. Bruce tensed, preparing for the worst.

Instead of eating him, though, the dragon sniffed at him for a while, then, unexpectedly, gave him a little lick - 'little' for the dragon meaning an entire faceful of slobber for Bruce - and continued on to where Tim was now watching warily, only his eyes poking out of the water.

"Tim, run!" Bruce shouted, pulling fruitlessly at the fur on the dragon's leg. "I mean, swim! Get away!"

The dragon paused and looked down at him. Bruce stared back, hoping for a moment that he'd distracted the beast. Then it reached out a paw with long, thick talons and scooped him up. The grip wasn't tight enough to be painful, but his arms were now pinned to his sides and he was totally helpless to prevent the beast from resuming its trek toward his defenseless son.

"NO! Stay away from him! Tim, get out of here, please, Tim, please run! Please! GO, Tim!"

Tim ignored him. The beast paused, then leaned over and sniffed at him. After a moment, Tim reached up and patted a palm against the dragon's face. His eyes widened and he rose out of the water, feeling the dragon's nose and fur. His tentacles were writhing with interest, one of them feeling along a whisker. He must have tugged too hard, because the dragon abruptly yelped and jerked, sending Tim splashing down for a moment. The dragon rubbed at its nose, then reached for the mer.

"Please don't," Bruce begged, his heart thundering in his chest, but the paw was quite gentle when it closed over the mer child and lifted him out of the sea. Tim lay in the giant's palm, scrubbing both arms through fur, tentacles entangling with talons. The dragon stared at him. After a long moment, Tim went still and gazed back. He patted the dragon's nose again. Then he peered over a talon and pointed at Bruce.

Huge yellow eyes shifted between man and mer. Then the dragon made a noise like "Rheeee-unk," gently deposited the two onto the beach at the edge of the waves, and turned away. It took a few ponderous steps, crouched, then leaped into the air and soared off, heading out to sea.

Bruce had to...sit for a while. He breathed hard as he watched Tim calmly crawling across the sand, collecting his tablet and scattered toys. Once the boy was close enough, Bruce reached out and grabbed him, hugging him close.

Tim squirmed, then finally sighed and subsided, working at his fidgets. Although he didn't have much room because of how tightly Bruce was hugging him, he did his best to wipe sand off his tablet with Bruce's shirt and then started tapping at the screen.

Once Bruce had finally gotten his heart rate to settle, he examined Tim anxiously, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the boy other than drier-than-normal skin from pressing so much of his body against fur and clothes. Bruce fished out a bottle of oily solution and started rubbing it over Tim's flesh. The boy's face and hands stayed occupied by the tablet, though a tentacle lightly grasped Bruce's wrist as he worked and one or two others kept getting in his way so that he had to brush them aside.

Once that was done, Bruce gazed at the building for a while. The dragon had gone elsewhere and hopefully wouldn't be back for a while. If Bruce was going to investigate the Titans' headquarters, now would be a good time.

o.o.o

It was quiet, dim, and dusty at first. Eventually, however, Bruce started reaching cleaner areas that were well-lit, none of them visible from the land-facing side of the building. He gasped when a whirlwind abruptly shot up the hallway and stopped in front of him.

"Dick wants to know what you're doing here," Kid Flash informed him.

Bruce's heart leapt a little at the sound of his son's name. "He's a minor. I'm his father. I found out - from the news report that blew our cover - that he's hanging out unsupervised with a bunch of other teenagers instead of with the guardians I'd trusted with him. What other reason do I need?"

Kid Flash tilted his head. "Why do you care?"

"He's my son!" Bruce said incredulously. "I love him, and I'm worried about him."

"He said you hate him and kicked him out. Then replaced him with a younger and cuter kid again." He looked at the suitcase.

Bruce barely noticed the reference to Tim, he was too busy staring. "What?"

Just then, a child came barreling around the corner, sheathed sword clutched in his fist. It was Raptor, unmasked. He looked...vaguely familiar, for some reason. "What are you doing here?" the child demanded of Bruce. He had a slight accent that was mysteriously familiar as well. "I never sent for you! I'm not ready for you yet!"

"What?" Bruce said again, even more blankly.

"I will defeat one thousand enemies, and then I will present myself to you in full glory and honor. Until then, I am merely Raptor, Guardian of San Francisco." Raptor took a domino mask out of his pocket, settled it over his eyes, straightened his shoulders, gave a short bow to Bruce, then marched away.

"...What?"

"He's an uptight weirdo because he was raised in a murder cult," Kid Flash said matter-of-factly. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry." He dashed away.

Bruce stared. After a moment, he slowly resumed walking, his thoughts going in horrified circles. Dick thought Bruce hated him. He thought- How could he think Bruce had kicked him out?!

Bruce struggled to remember the details of their last parting, and became guilty when he found it difficult. That's right...he'd been drunk, or maybe hungover, and- that was-

...

He'd yelled at Dick, hadn't he. He vaguely remembered calling Arthur, but only after Dick had fled. His eldest child had been alone in the ocean for however long it had taken to get to Atlantis, vulnerable, certainly grieving as well...

How could Bruce have not noticed that he wasn't the only one in pain after losing Jason? How could he have just let Dick go, just-

It had seemed so reasonable at the time, but now, more or less in his right mind, he looked back at his past self and was appalled. No wonder Dick hated him.

And...hadn't Kid Flash said something about-?

A green panther skidded to a halt and morphed into a green boy, who grinned at him. "Hi!"

"Hi," Bruce said warily.

"Which one are you here for?"

"Which- What?"

"Which kid?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "My kid?" He didn't know why it came out sounding like a question. Obviously he was here for his own kid. What, did they expect he was here to boss around complete strangers? "Dick. Richard. Wayne. The mer." He cleared his throat and tried to organize his thoughts. "I thought he was in Atlantis, but obviously he's neither in Atlantis nor safe, so...I came."

Beast Boy stared at him. "You do care!"

"Yes I care, I was not in a good place back then-"

Too late; the kid had turned into a wolf and run off again. Bruce sighed.

He eventually made it to a large room with a window wall facing the ocean. Judging by the dusty desks and chairs shoved against the other three walls, it looked like it had once been a communal office space, but it now contained rugs, mismatched lounge furniture, and a huge TV screen. Bruce recognized the setup from the blog videos, though he realized now that the Titans must have done something to hide the window in the versions that had been posted.

Speedy was sitting on the floor, idly untangling a box full of cords as he watched TV. Beast Boy, in cat form, was rolling around on the rugs, and Raven was warily tapping at a tablet like she thought it might explode if handled incorrectly.

Bruce took all this in at a glance - what his eyes zeroed in on was the loveseat. Starfire sat there with four braids wound into her fiery mane of hair; a fifth braid, incomplete, was dangling over her shoulder. Her eyes were fixed intently on Bruce as she leaned her chin on her hand, her other arm lying on the armrest in a not-quite hug. Within its curve sat Dick, who was on his girlfriend's lap as he glared at Bruce.

"Dick," Bruce whispered.

Just then, Kid Flash zoomed into the room, dumping a tray on the coffee table. "Garlic bread's done! But I kinda already ate all the lasagna already; HAHA oops!" He was gone again in the next instant.

"What are you doing here?" Dick demanded in sign language.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Atlantis!"

Beast Boy rolled onto his stomach and turned into a panther. Speedy laid aside the cords and watched the confrontation. Raven glanced up for a moment, then went back to her careful scrolling.

"I'm not supposed to be anywhere! I only went to Atlantis because I had nowhere else to go, but now I DO have somewhere better." He folded his arms and continued glaring.

"...Dick, can we talk in private?"

"No."

Bruce looked around at the other teens. They looked right back at him. Only Raven sighed a little, stood up, and vanished into one of her shadow portals. "...Fine." Bruce drew in a deep breath. "Dick, I apologize for what happened when you left. I was not in a good place back then, I wasn't thinking straight, and I was wrong in how I treated you. I should have been more responsible. I should have-"

"WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?!" Dick demanded, accompanying the aggressive signs with a wild screech that made Bruce's skin prickle. Beast Boy flinched and hastily turned back into a boy, rubbing his ears.

"Dick, I do love you! You're-"

"NO! No! You yell at me, you replace me, you don't want me-"

"Dick, please-"

"When will you throw HIM away and get another?!" Dick demanded, making mer vocalizations as he signed. Bruce was horrified to see tears starting to slip down the boy's face, so it took him a moment to process what Dick's accusing finger was pointed at.

He looked down at the suitcase. Neither of the zippers were on top, which meant Tim had probably slid them down to the side so he could peek through at the room. "You...you know about...?"

"Clark showed me," Dick said bitterly. "Pictures. Your new baby. You love him." He hauled himself half-over the arm of the chair, scrabbled in the bag hanging from the nearby wheelchair and extracted a phone, tapped viciously at the screen, then flung the device at Bruce.

Bruce caught it just in time. "Don't throw your phone!" Or...someone's phone, at any rate; it wasn't the one Bruce had gotten for him.

Bruce looked at the screen. It was a photo that Clark must have taken during one of his visits, of Tim dropping a muddy keychain into Bruce's hand. Bruce looked kind of terrible in the picture with his unkempt beard and dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes, but his expression...it was unguarded and incredibly soft, like he was looking at something precious. Bruce...hadn't realized his face could still look like that.

"It- Just because-"

"You do this," Dick said bitterly. "Cute new baby, bye old baby."

"I can love more than one child at a time, Dick!" Bruce stormed, anger and grief and pain all mashing together in his chest. "I love you, I love Tim, I- I loved- I love all three of you! It's never my choice to lose any of you!"

"Bye, Dick. Threw me in the ocean. Bye, Dick. Left me in Atlantis. Bye, Dick. You don't want me anymore. You don't want me."

Bruce's heart clenched in deep regret at how often Dick had felt abandoned. It really was Bruce's fault. He'd hurt his child deeply, failed him too many times. Maybe he'd reached the limit of Dick's forgiveness. "Dick...please, I- Please...how can I fix this? What can I-?"

"Leave me alone!" Sobbing now, Dick hauled himself into his wheelchair, helped by a little boost from Starfire. His movements were rough and jerky as he skirted around Bruce, who resisted the impulse to tell him to be more careful so he wouldn't tear the webbing between his fingers. Dick wheeled out of the room, where other Titans were clustered in the doorway; Cyborg rested a hand on his shoulder and walked alongside him, Kid Flash on the other side, until they were out of sight.

Starfire rose into the air and swooped up to Bruce, who rocked back a step in alarm. "You hurt him," she stated.

"I- I know. I'm sorry. That's the last thing I wanted to do; I-"

"You come here, why?"

"He's my son. I want him to be safe, and I miss him."

She cocked her head. "You want him safe? Why now, but not before?"

"I did want him to be safe, I just- I had just lost my other son. I was hurting, too, and I handled it badly, I regret it, if I could do it over again, I-"

"I watch you." She pointed at his eyes. Then she looked back at the suitcase.

Bruce was a little alarmed to see Raptor standing over it, yanking the zippers open so he could peer inside. He didn't get much of a chance, though, since a tentacle smacked him in the face before the zippers slid shut again. Raptor sputtered and pulled out a knife, but thankfully Speedy and Beast Boy popped up and coaxed him away.

The young Atlantean, Aqualad, who had come into the room along with Raptor when Dick left, now stepped a little closer and started to...vocalize at the suitcase. The zippers parted again and Tim peeked out.

"I watch you," Starfire said again, and Bruce turned his attention back to her. "I love Dick. You say, 'I love Dick.' We'll see." Then she left.

Bruce went over to crouch by the suitcase. Tim remained completely enclosed, but he was still peering at Aqualad through the slit and there was no sound of fidget toys, which meant his attention was strongly captured. Bruce waited until Aqualad stopped singing.

"King Arthur told me about him," Aqualad said. "We are...honored, to have one of his kind here."

Bruce rested a hand on the suitcase as the sound of fidget toys started up again. "I can't just leave Dick here."

"Why not?" Raptor asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"He's my son, and he's not an adult yet, I can't just leave him here unsupervised. I know you all have some sort of club here - I'm not your father, I'm not going to police the rest of you, but I do have a responsibility to Dick. Leaving him without an adult guardian would be neglect."

He wasn't sure why everyone was looking at Raptor, or why Raptor was flushed and fidgety.

"So, like, if you stayed here to be Dick's dad," Speedy drawled, "you'd only try to parent him, right? The rest of us, you'd stay out of our business?"

A spark of hope lit in Bruce's chest. Even though Dick was still angry at him, maybe the other Titans would let him stay. Maybe he'd be allowed enough time to win back his son. "Well, I can't just stand by if someone's about to get hurt, but for the most part, yes. It's not my place to give you a curfew or limit your screen time or anything like that."

Beast Boy cheered. "All right! Well, D- Raptor, whaddaya think?" He winked.

Raptor's cheeks were still noticeably flushed. "If we gave you permission, though," he said to Bruce, "to...'parent' us. Certain individuals. You would be open to it?"

Bruce studied him. "Who are your parents?" he asked warily.

The boy raised his chin proudly. "I am of an esteemed lineage: my grandfather is going to rule the world one day. I am his heir, and by the time I have finished, I will make him proud."

Which didn't answer Bruce's question, but whatever. Bruce sighed and said, "I didn't plan for any of this, we'll just have to play it by ear."

Raptor fidgeted a little and looked extra-haughty.

"He means we'll just see how things go," Speedy said.

Raptor relaxed slightly. Apparently he wasn't well-versed in English idioms. "Yes." He held out his hand to Bruce, who warily shook it. The boy made one of his little bows and left.

Bruce rubbed at his face, glanced at the suitcase, then at the Titans who were left. He could sleep on the yacht if he had to, but he preferred to stay close to Dick if possible. "What sort of sleeping arrangements do you have here?"

Aqualad started leading him on a tour of the facility. Most of the rooms had once been office spaces, laboratories, and odd rooms of indeterminable original use. With the Titans' renovations, there was a kitchen, game room, training room, indoor pool, laundry room, and several other rooms that Aqualad remembered just in time that he shouldn't show an outsider.

Bruce apparently wasn't allowed in the wing where most of the Titans' bedrooms were, either. He got shown into a random office on the other side of the building instead, and was provided with bedding they apparently expected him to arrange on the floor. He requested and was granted a tub for Tim.

"All the bathrooms work," Beast Boy explained. "There aren't many showers, though, especially outside the training room."

"I'll manage. Thank you."

Wonder Girl, who shown up by now to see the newcomer, was currently lounging in the doorway. Bruce thought he could see a glimpse of Raptor watching less openly. "You're older than Dick made you sound like," Wonder Girl remarked.

Bruce grunted, not really sure how to respond.

"You look tired," the young Amazon continued. "He made you sound like an angry, cruel Man, but you're just tired. And small."

"Do not speak of Bruce Wayne with such disrespect!" Raptor hissed.

Bruce squinted at Wonder Girl. He couldn't remember ever being described as 'small' before. She didn't seem to be making fun of him, though; she looked more curious than anything. "I am tired," he acknowledged. "Having a child who hates me is tiring." So was having a dead child. And a third child whom he didn't have the energy to care for properly. And also finding out that he was a bad parent and should never have been allowed to have children in the first place.

"Dick cries about you a lot," Beast Boy said.

Bruce rubbed a hand over his face. He couldn't take much more of this.

"There are a lot of misunderstandings here," Aqualad murmured. "And broken hearts. It's sad."

"They need time and love," Wonder Girl said matter-of-factly. She met Bruce's eyes. "We'll give you time. Don't fail again. There's much more at stake now." She shifted. "They shouldn't hide forever, either. If they don't tell you the secret within two weeks, then I will."

"What secret?" Bruce asked, but Wonder Girl was already striding away.

Raptor finally stepped into the light and pointed fiercely at Beast Boy and Aqualad. "It is not her secret to share, and neither is mine. Keep your mouths shut or I'll cut your tongues out." He marched away as well.

Aqualad's eyes were wide as he stared after him, but Beast Boy simply called, "I dare you to try it, crazy brat!" He looked back at Bruce and grinned. "Rob cries even more than Dick does, he's not gonna be able to keep his mouth shut for two weeks if you're living here. I should make a bet with someone about whether you'll figure it out first or not." He turned to Aqualad. "Will you take that bet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ah, come on to Dick's room, I'll explain it."

Then they were gone.

Bruce sat on the floor for a while, resting his face in his palm, until a couple of tentacles started worriedly picking at him. He squeezed one of them gently, then went in search of the nearest bathroom.

Once he was ready for bed, he turned off the light and lay down on the pile of bedding he'd been given, but it soon became obvious that Tim was exploring the room in the dark. Bruce turned on the flashlight app on his phone and angled it away from his youngest son, watching Tim continue to crawl through the shadows. The mer at last grew satisfied and hauled himself into the tub. Bruce turned off the light and closed his eyes. He didn't fall asleep until the clinking sounds of fidget toys had finally ceased.

TBC