Chapter 43: The Family Business

Of course Thomas' plan to keep the alley incident from their parents failed in less than thirty minutes of getting home. Both Thomas and Abigal greeted their mom and dad as normally as they could, like they do every day after school. However the pair couldn't keep the shakiness from their voice and tried their best to not look at their parents in the face, because they couldn't mask the ordeal they had endured.

Their mom gave them a look but didn't press them on their odd behavior. After all, it could be puberty or something, at least that was Harley's thinking. With having such a strict and no-nonsense father of course Harley was the "fun parent". So she didn't want to pry into her kids lives and be a stick in the mud like Bruce.

Bruce however, had no qualms about questioning his children. Harley was the farthest thing from a strict parent and pretty much would let them get away with anything if he didn't put his foot down. Anytime they got bad grades or did something they knew they shouldn't Bruce could spot their guilty behavior the moment he saw them. This time was no exception. Only their mannerisms weren't guilty so much as...terrified.

He sat at the kitchen table, thumbing through some recent business proposals at Wayne Enterprises when he glanced up as Thomas and Abigal entered. Immediately their demeanor was off. He watched them carefully as the pair got snacks from the fridge, noticing the slight tremor in their hands as they each got a can of soda. His top-notch detective skills then noticed a small red stain on Abigal's pants leg. He could tell it was blood but it didn't look like she was injured in any way. He did see however that the back of Thomas' elbows were scrapped up, as if he was shoved into something.

"We will be in the library doing homework dad." Abigal stated as she leaned down and gave her father a kiss on the cheek. He frowned feeling her trembling form directly from her light kiss.

"Sit down you two and tell me what happened." Bruce ordered sternly, putting his papers off to the side.

Harley looked over at Bruce and gave him a questioning look before turning back to her kids, making her way to the kitchen table and sitting beside her husband. Well, he brought it up so might as well see what's going on. Thomas opened his mouth like he was about to protest before Abigal simply sighed and placed her hand on her brother's shoulder to stop him.

"Don't even bother Tom." Abigal said, cutting her brother off, "It was stupid to even try to keep this from dad."

Thomas was about to continue with his protest anyway but seeing his father cross his arms and give him that typical stern look cause him to swallow his words and sit down at the table alongside his sister. Reluctantly, the siblings began to tell their parents of their encounter with the thugs in the alley. Thankfully, both Thomas and Abigal managed to keep Abigal's crazy episode out of the story. Simply stating that Abigal had pushed one of the thugs into the wall as a surprise attack, which was why there was a blood stain on her. They also edited the story to say the thugs gave up and ran away when they heard sirens off in distance. Thank goodness Crane had dropped off Mazie at her parents house earlier. She would have spilled the whole unedited story to Bruce the minute she saw him. The girl wasn't the best under pressure.

After the two finished their tale they watched in silence for what felt like hours as their parents exchanged looks that conveyed a conversation that the parents have had many a time. Finally, Harley sighed in defeat and looked away from Bruce. It seemed their long running debate had finally ended.

"You two come with us." Bruce ordered as he got up from the table, followed by Harley. The siblings gave each other confused looks before getting up as well and following their parents.

Bruce lead the family into the library and made his way to the grand piano in the corner. He quickly and effortlessly played three disinct key notes and everyone heard something audibly click behind the nearby wall. The wall where the grandfather clock was suddenly descended into the floor and disappeared, clock, bookshelves and all. Revealed to the siblings was a secret passageway with stairs leading down into the darkness. Both kids instantly starting panicking.

"Are we about to get punished in some kinda weird dungeon!" Thomas shouted, looking at his parents in fear, "Isn't this a little extreme!?"

" Well dad is a billionaire." Abigal replied, oddly enough not as perturbed as her brother was, " so maybe its like that room that other guy had in that fifty shades book."

"What!?" Harley exclaimed, her face turning red. "Of course not! Also that book is too graphic for a kid your age!"

"So you admit you have read it?" Bruce countered, causing Harley to blush brightly and resulting in a smirk from Bruce, "Either way, its not a bondage dungeon, at least that wing hasn't been added yet."

Harley's face got red as a tomato but Bruce decided to end the teasing there, his face once again set in his typical scowl. He motioned for everyone to follow him as he descended the staircase into the darkness. Staying close by, they followed with their mom behind them. It felt like the staircase downwards would never end before light finally hit all their faces and the rocky corridor opened.

The siblings' jaws dropped and their eyes grew wide as they stood in a huge cavern. A waterfall roared loudly, blocking one side of the cave. Bats screeched and flew above them, nesting among the cracks and crevices. Raised metal platforms in the center of the cave held a variety of vehicles and weapons. Display cases filled with many different costumes lined one of the cave's walls. A huge computer towered over everything, with a turning bat symbol on the screen as the computer sat idle.

"Holy shi-" Thomas exclaimed but was quickly cut off by his mother.

"Hey now young man, language." Harley warned and she and Bruce stood in front of their children.

"Is-Is this what i think it is?" Abigal asked, stunned as her gaze took in every corner of the cave. Of course the siblings have heard of Batman and Batwoman. Everyone living in Gotham has.

"The Batcave!" Thomas exclaimed, his eyes lighting up like a kid in a candy store.

"Yes." Bruce replied, turning to his kids, " And I'm Batman."

"Batwoman!" Harley shouted excitedly, pointing to herself while sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth. Their mom was a little weird sometimes.

" And its time we bring you two into the family business." Bruce stated.

*Sorry for the late update. Life's been a little hectic and motivation problems have plagued me. However with some readers showing me support and with Fanfiction's new app i should be able to update this story more, since I'm always on the go. I look forward to continuing this story and as always I hope you enjoy it and look forward to comments!*