It all started with the systems picking up anomalies around Gotham. Five different ones, to be exact. The Arkham Knight grumbled to himself. Tim and Stephanie were both on vacation for a week. A school trip or something. Of course the two really decided to go to Rome together, but the Knight wasn't angry.

Young, dumb, teenage love, wasn't the worst thing those two could be doing with their time. As for Carrie, she was hunting down a lead on Penguin.

(He was worried about letting her patrol alone The lights are flickering in the cold, hidden passage inside Arkham. His Robin suit is torn, and he can barely breath, barely hear anything over that damn clown.)

The Knight shakes his head. As much as it pains him to leave Carrie alone, she can take care of herself. If the tracker in her suit, or the live feed ever cuts out, it'll instantly send an emergency signal through the systems Tim and him devised. If anyone is ever attempted to be cut off from the others, they'll know.

What happened to him, will never happen to anyone else.

For now, he and Bruce can handle things from here. Anomalies. It could be nothing. Could be something.

"Knight to Hood, you copy?" He asks. The response comes back not a moment later. "Hood to Knight. What's wrong?" The Arkham Knight clicked his tongue. "Hopefully nothing. I've detected a few weird anomalies that created a weird burst of energy. The readings are..." "Weird?" Bruce supplied. The Knight snorted.

"Yeah basically. I'm sending you the location for the closest one. Could you head there and investigate?" He asks. He's not used to ordering Bruce around. "Affirmative. Will respond once I arrive. Hood out." Bruce's comm cuts off, and the Knight sighs. He'll have to make another appointment with Harely soon at this rate. He doesn't want to start having flashbacks at just the thought of Carrie trying to fight crime solo.

But for now... Now, he checks the locations of the other energy readings. All of them came in within a few minutes of each other. He picks the newest one; Just south of Bristol. He grabs his helmet and watches as the world becomes covered in a shade of blue.

The Arkham Knight has some work to do.

Bruce wasn't stumped. He wasn't, being stumped meant you had no idea of what to do, and he knew exactly what to do. He created those rules for a reason, after all. But one thing the rules didn't account for was...

"Bruuuuuuce. Can we stop walking now?"

Teenagers. Bruce took a deep sigh as he watched Stephanie and Cassandra walking behind him. Cass was fine, but Steph... Her leg was hurt from patrol a few nights ago. She still wasn't back to a hundred percent yet. Bruce didn't want to seem like a slave driver, but they were just half a mile from the Manor. Once they got there, she could rest.

"It's just a little longer Stephanie, just hold on until then." He says, and then nearly winches when he realizes he's being too insensitive (he's pretty sure, at least.) "I uh... I can always carry you?" He offers. Stephanie scoffs. "I'll keep my dignity, thanks B." She says. Cass quietly laughs, and Bruce almost smiles. He doesn't, but it's close.

"Right, well... Let's move." Stephanie lets out a noise of protest, but that's all. The group keep walking, Bruce slowing down for Stephanie. Cass is signing to Steph as the two walk, sometimes giggling to each other. Bruce could probably figure out what they're saying, but he figures it's none of his business right now anyways.

It's not long before they finally reach the gates of Wayne Manor. But... Steph gasps.

"What the fuck happened to the Manor!?" She exclaims. Bruce agrees. It's... It's gone. Just a few pieces of rubble. Bruce takes a deep breath. Compartmentalize. His house, his home is gone, and he needs to breathe. Needs to focus. If only they had their phones, he could make sure they weren't in the past or - now more likely - the future. He walks up past the gate, the girls following behind him.

He gets an alert as he's driving the Batmobile down towards Bristol. The Knight frowns. It's... The Manor. Someone passed the front gates. Turning the autopilot on, he goes to access the cameras.

...

"Huh... Alright then." The Knight shakes his head. He guessed he knew what the energy readings were. At this moment, he gets a call. "Knight here. What's up?" He asks. There's a pause for a moment, and he's about to repeat himself, when Bruce comes through.

"I found out what the energy readings were. Inter-dimensional travelers. Bats." The Knight frowns. "Hey B, you ok?" Again, more silence. And then...

"I'm standing next to Jason. Apparently, he's... He's the Red Hood back home." The Knight almost slams on his breaks, but the car is in autopilot and that wouldn't do much of anything. Instead, the Arkham Knight does what every good Bat does. He compartmentalizes.

"Understood. I'm going to talk to a few more displaced Bats now." He says, and then hides a cough. "They are friendly, yes?" Bruce grunts, which in Bruce speak means 'I'm fairly certain, but be prepared just in case.'

"Copy. Get their assess back to the Asylum. Knight out." He switches his comm off. It may be a mistake to just bring them into the Asylum, but... Well, the Knight isn't known for making well thought out decisions. The Knight also puts in a call to Carrie.

"Robin, come in." He says, and Carrie immediately responds. "Yeah AK, I've got-" The Knight cuts her off. "No time Robin. Listen, there's been some odd energy readings around Gotham." He says. "Energy Readings?" The Knight nods, though Carrie can't see it. "Yeah. Turns out, it's because we've got some visitors from a different universe." He explains. "... Inter-dimensional travelers?" She asks, and the Knight narrows his eyes.

"Yes. I'm heading towards a few right now." Carrie chuckles. "Yeah I think... I think I've found a few myself." The Knight stills. "Robin... Exactly where are they?" He asks. "Um, right in front of me?" The Knight can't stop himself. "Robin! What if they were dangerous!? You just walked right up to highly trained - no, look, just bring them to the Asylum!" He yells. Robin screams "Gah! No need to yell dad! I'll bring them there right now." She says, and immediately hangs up. The Knight almost facepalms.

That could have gone better...

Bruce is staring at the remains of his home. He's able to breath now at least, as he walks through the charred, destroyed remnants of the Manor. Stephanie and Cassandra trail after him as he walks through the rubble. There's... There's not much left. Bruce sits down on what used to be the kitchen floor.

He thinks at least.

Steph and Cass sit right next to him. Cass is giving him a worried look, and Stephanie just looks... Awkward. She gently pats Bruce's shoulder. "Look, Bruce... It's gonna be fine right? I mean we're obviously either in the future or a different universe!" She tries to sound happy, but she's not even convincing herself. Cass signs to him.

'Hurting. Us too'. She signs. Bruce takes a breath. "Yes I... I'm sorry. I need to just... Just..." Logically he knows this isn't his Manor. Even if this is time travel, this is still not HIS. Not yet, at least. What could have happened? Why is his home gone? Who did this? Bruce shakes his head as a few small tears threatened to come out. He won't cry, not here, not over a house.

Cass and, by proxy Steph, both scoot closer to him. "Hey boss, it's... It's gonna be ok, alright? Don't forget that." Steph says, and Cass leans forward and hugs him.

"It's fine. I promise." She whispers softly. And Bruce finally is able to take a deep breath, and steel himself. He doesn't need his daughter and his daughter teammate to see him like this. He hugs Cass and, after a moment, opens his arm for Stephanie. She looks at him for a second, before awkwardly hugging him too.

He's only hugged her twice before this he thinks. Once, when she was dying when she was Robin. The other was a few months ago. She had a bad night and Tim was with the Titans, while Cass was in Hong Kong. She needed support and he was there. Bruce doesn't believe he helped, but so long as he could be there at least... He had to hope that was enough.

"I'm... Not intruding, am I?" A mechanized voice asks. The trio quickly stood up, and there, not even ten feet away (How did they get there without anyone noticing?) Stood a... A tank of a Batsuit. Mechanized, with thick metal, a silver bat emblem and... Graffiti? Bruce frowns. Alternate dimension is seeming more likely than time travel (and if he feels better about his home being destroyed now, no one else has to know).

Steph whistles. "Dude is that graffiti? That's sick man." She says carefully. The man turns to her. "Huh. Other you agrees. Her suit is full of it." As Steph squeals about the thought of her own suit ruined by a mediocre artform, Bruce narrows his eyes.

"Other her?" He says, Batman in full control now. The mechanized Bat turns his attention to Bruce. He stares at him for a moment, before snorting. The sound is rather unsettling through the voice modifier.

"Damn B. Haven't heard you use the Batman voice in a while." He says, and then laughs. "It's been... A pretty long time actually." There's history there. You don't have to be the World's Greatest Detective to see that. Cass starts to sign, but the Bat tilts his head.

"Uh, sorry. Sign language wasn't one of my majors." The mystery man jokes. He then waves lamely at them. "So, I'm the Arkham Knight, you're Stephanie Brown, you're Bruce Wayne and you..." The man's mechanized eyes blink several times at Cassandra. Bruce is weary. Yes, the man is wearing a Bat symbol. Yes, he obviously knows a version of Stephanie that is a crime fighter. But Bruce wouldn't have gotten where he was in life if he wasn't paranoid. He folds his arms.

"She's my daughter." He says in an even tone. The Arkham Knight chuckles at that. "Yeah I'm not surprised. Not completely at least." He says, and then folds his arms. "Red Hood and Robin have found a few more of you guys. I've got them headed towards our base." As Stephanie opens her mouth, the Knight points a finger at her.

"Not the Batcave. No that's uh, that's gone too." The Knight says, and Bruce can't stop himself. "... How?" He asks. The Knight turns his head. For a moment, Bruce doesn't think he's going to get an answer. Finally, the Knight sighs.

"I don't know if you have this, but here, Bruce had something called the Knightfall Protocol." Bruce's heart drops. He hadn't had to think of that for... For years. Stephanie and Cass both look at him weirdly. Bruce looks at both of them for a moment. He lets out a deep breath.

"In... In the event of me dying, I told Alfred to make sure all traces of Batman was destroyed. Gone." He says carefully. The Knight nods. "Yeah... Yeah, I had to activate it." It's at this point that Bruce realizes, the Knight must be one of his sons. He mentioned the Red Hood, so he couldn't be Jason. And unless Tim or Damian had gotten way, way taller... The build isn't quite right, but...

"... Dick?" He asks the Arkham Knight. The man stares at him for a few seconds, before finally laughing.

"There's - there's no way you think I'm Dick!" He says. Still laughing, the man reaches for his helmet. He hits a few buttons, and when the mask comes off...

"... Who are you?" Bruce asks. There's a look of hurt that crosses the blue eyes he sees. The rugged face is unfamiliar, but there's... There's something about it that he just can't place. The man runs a hand through his short, blond hair, and as he runs his hand across a large J scar on his cheek, he simply rolls his eyes.

"I mean... I guess if you've got other kids, it only stands to reason you don't... Don't have me." He says, his voice far younger than his appearance would suggest. The man flashes him a smile that Bruce knows is faker than a three dollar bill.

"Lance Bruner. Your second oldest from another universe." The blond man says.

(A/N So! Ok, Lance Bruner isn't an OC. He was the second (or third) ever Robin in the comics before Jason. He died, however, in the very same issue he was introduced in. My previous story basically was me giving him the love that canon would never give him, and this story is about the journey AFTER that, and how a Broken Knight can help this family to find more happiness with each other.

As for his outfit, basically it's just the Arkham Knight suit, except with a Silver Bat on it, as well as a little bit of graffiti)