If I owned Batman, everyone would have a happy ending
The little boy lost in the lonely fen,
Led by the wandering light,
Began to cry, but God, ever nigh,
Appeared like his father, in white
He kissed the child, and by the hand led,
And to his mother brought,
Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale,
Her little boy weeping sought
Infinity Island
March 20, 04:24 UTC
"You're bluffing, Ra's ordered you to bring him back alive." Kid stammered out as Deathstroke continued to hold the gun against Tim Drake's head.
"His orders were to recover the boy if possible but I'm certain he would shed no tears if the blood of his little side project of his were to decorate his floors." Tim gulped nervously as Deathstroke spoke, tilting his head in order to put some distance between the gun barrel and his temple. "Now, give us some space if you will." The assassin said, his voice smooth as silk. No one doubted he would shoot Timmy with little provocation and they backed up slowly.
"Much obliged," Deathstroke said, easing away from the wall. "Now the four of you remain very still and I just might keep the boy intact. And you, keep still laddie." The man said, addressing the wriggling child in his arms. "We wouldn't want you to lose your hea- arg!" The assassin yelled in surprise and pain as one of small knives he kept strapped at his waist imbedded into his bicep. He'd been too busy paying attention to the heroes that he'd neglected to keep a better watch on his hostage which gave Tim the opportunity to grab one of his weapons. The attack had had the intended effect as the man loosened his hold enough to allow Tim to slip out and run back to Superboy.
"You little-" Deathstroke hissed through his pain as he ripped out the knife and gripped his now bleeding arm. It wasn't a fatal wound but it was deep and it would take time for his healing factor to repair it. "Well, aren't you clever? I can see why Ra's wanted to keep you."
"Let's end this," Aqualad said, rushing forward with his Water-Bearers and attacking Deathstroke head on. Superboy had stepped back, holding on tightly to the shuddering boy in his arms. Deathstroke unsheathed his sword and ignored his injury as he ran forward seemingly to reach for Tim.
Miss Martian threw several small objects at him which he avoided but Kid Flash had predicted the direction the assassin would move and was waiting each time with a powerful punch. Wally was zipping in and out so fast in a quick, illogical pattern, there was no way the assassin could avoid him. Deathstroke let out an agonized cry as he was struck forcefully on his injured arm and he fell to one knee.
Once Deathstroke was down, Superboy handed Tim off to M'Gann as he ran forward and finally was able to contribute to the fight. He had to admit, smashing the older man's face felt really, really good. The man grunted as he flew back and collided painfully with the far wall; he reached for his weapons belt only to grasp empty air. A whistle drew his attention and he saw Kid Flash teasingly playing with his tools, having swiped them on one of his last punches.
"Ha," the assassin spat out a mouthful of blood. "You think that's all it takes to defeat me? I can do this all day children."
"We don't need to win," Miss Martian said coldly, mentally lifting one of his swords from the belt Wally was holding and spearing the older man through the gut and into the wall. The wound avoided any major organs, but it would keep Deathstroke from moving. "We just need to keep you here long enough to escape." She continued cheekily as she whispered to Tim not to look while she passed the boy back to Conner.
"Good work Team, his healing factor will allow him to survive but I suggest we make our way back to the Bioship. We have wasted enough time as it is." Aqualad announced, sheathing his weapons. Deathstroke struggled to remove the sword, cursing the children for their dirty underhanded tricks. But by the time he'd finished his threats of vengeance, they were already gone.
XxX
"Father?" Thomas's quiet voice asked pulling Batman out of his thoughts. He'd lost a good amount of blood on top of complete exhaustion from the mission. His son's face is pinched with worry as he knelt in front of him. Dick is beside him patching up the scrapes Thomas had acquired. Artemis was still up top keeping a look out.
"Where's Ra's?" Bruce asks, slowly getting to his feet. His children protested his movement but he was still the adult here, still their guardian.
"He has been taken care of," Thomas answered. "I defeated him honorably and he yielded. He is handcuffed over there." The boy clarified once he observed the suspicious look on Batman's face.
"Are you alright?" Bruce asked, considering that it probably should have been his first question.
"I'm fine, nothing seems so bad once you've had your spine replaced." Damian shrugged, eliciting concerned expressions from the other Bats.
"Wild life you live," Robin commented dryly. "The others are on their way now. They ran into Deathstroke and were able to neutralize him, but they're all okay." Robin added, a proud smile on his face. Bruce didn't blame him, Deathstroke was not an easy villain to defeat. Their conversation was cut short as an energy weapon was fired at them. Up above, Artemis had loosed a few arrows as Epoch continued to fire down upon them.
"You ruined everything!" The villain cried. "This was supposed to be an easy job. I could have eradicated the Batman legacy is one swoop and made sure that brat McGinnis never so much as heard the name!" He continued, turning onto Artemis who backed off he focused on her. Batman threw a batarang and the projectile imbedded itself in Epoch's armor causing his weapon to spark menacingly. Epoch growled in aggravation and ripped the object out.
"Epoch is behaving erratically." Batman said as he ran forward to confront the villain as Artemis used the villain's distraction to land a few kicks. "His armor appears damaged as well, I believe now is the time to take him in."
"We ran into him earlier." Robin stated as he and Thomas followed. "We did some damage to his suit before he disappeared on us. We were actually looking for him when we ran into you." Epoch fired a few more random shots one of which hit Artemis in the shoulder. She cried out and stumbled backwards gripping her injured arm.
"Artemis!" Robin shouted, pulling out his remaining grappling gun to get to his injured friend more quickly. He landed on the railing and kicked Epoch's hand away just before he could fire a shot into Artemis's head.
The enraged man turned to Robin. "You and your rotten little family have ruined me." Epoch shouted, lunging at Robin who flipped over him. "I'd ruin you too but, hey kid, you do just fine on your own." The man laughed viciously. "You have no idea what's coming, you think the worst is behind you? You have no idea what pain lies in your future Gray-" He was thrown backwards as a large box was hurled forcibly at him.
"Oh man, why are we always late!" Kid Flash asked, coming to stop near Batman as he, Aqualad, Superboy and Miss Martian ran out from one of the many corridors.
Miss Martian picked up several more objects with her mind and hurled them at Epoch. "Robin, Artemis, are you two okay?" M'Gann asked as she floated up to their level and helped the archer to her feet.
"Where have you guys been?" Artemis asked as she very gingerly tested out her bow arm.
M'Gann sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh you know, fighting bad guys and getting hopelessly lost." She smiled before noting the way that Artemis was wincing. "We need to get that treated." By this time, Epoch had stumbled back to his feet and was shaking with rage.
"You won't have a chance to," he shouted as he brought fired his energy beam at the catwalk they were standing on. Their eyes widened and Robin reached for his grappling gun.
"Move! Now!" He shouted as he grappled away from the now collapsing overhang while Miss Martian had scooped up Artemis and flew towards the relative safety of the lower level. The Martian cried out as one of Epoch's shots hit her square in the back sending her and Artemis skidding roughly to the ground.
"M'Gann!" Conner yelled as he saw his girlfriend land badly. He ran toward them with Tim still tucked securely in his arms. Kid Flash and Aqualad were now engaging Epoch; Thomas and Batman weren't too far behind sending a series of explosives at the mercenary. Robin dropped down from his grappling gun and was gently pressing his gloved hands to the wound on Artemis's shoulder when Superboy arrived.
"I'm fine," M'Gann muttered as she tenderly stretched out her back. "I'm more worried about Artemis."
"This looks bad Arty, you're not going to be able to pull your bow. It's a good thing his blasts are weakened from the suit's damage or it could've been way worse." Robin said as Artemis grimaced. "Can you get back to the Bioship? You can take Tim and bring the ship around for when we need to leave. We're going to have to get out of here quick once we apprehend Epoch, he stated. "Take the back hallways you used to get in, they should be empty."
"But," Artemis began to protest, stepping forward only for the movement to upset her arm. She let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine, come on kid. I'll show you a spaceship." She said as Superboy transferred Tim onto Artemis's back.
Tim carefully gripped the archer's shoulders, looking back at the other heroes. "Are you going to be okay?" The boy asked, looking over at the bird themed hero he'd admired his whole life. Robin grinned and gave Tim a thumbs up.
"Of course, it's all a part of being a hero Timmy. Don't worry, Epoch won't be feeling the aster once we're done with him. Now go." Robin said as he, Miss Martian and Superboy turned to help their comrades in the battle with Epoch. Artemis gave her friends one last look before sprinting down the hall to the location of the ship. She heard the boy hum thoughtfully next to her ear.
"You alright back there?" She asked.
"Yeah, it's just something Robin said. That word, aster, my neighbor, Dickie says that same funny word."
XxX
"How's Artemis?" Batman asked as Robin, Miss Martian and Superboy once more jumped back into battle. Kid Flash was zooming back and forth, keeping Epoch's attention while Thomas and Aqualad were using the opportunity to try and break through Epoch's damaged armor. Miss Martian immediately joined them, telekinetically aiding her teammates.
"Her shoulder's pretty badly burned but she'll be fine. She took Tim back to the ship and is going to bring it around, twenty minutes tops." Robin responded as he dived to the side to avoid Epoch's blasts. Superboy growled and ran forward, gritting through Epoch's assault before launching himself at the villain. Conner grabbed Epoch and forced the both of them to the ground. With Superboy's arms keeping Epoch from moving, the man began to shout and curse.
"I don't know why he's acting out so much, he was much calmer the last few times we faced him." Robin said.
"We've been damaging his suit, his main source of power, extensively. We've disrupted his plans in this time period and disgraced his reputation. That's enough to anger anyone." Batman replied, watching the mercenary struggle to escape Superboy while the other teens stood over them. They were beaten, bloodied and exhausted from the long and trying morning but they had done well and earned their victory.
"It's over Epoch, you're going to answer for the murder of Catherine Todd and the kidnapping of Timothy Drake." Epoch writhed from the ground, glaring up at his captors.
"No, this isn't possible. I am the master of all time, I will not be defeated by children." The villain shouted, throwing his head back and smacking Superboy right in the face, stunning him. Epoch was able to break out of his hold and dart to the right, grabbing Miss Martian and holding her in front of him with his energy weapon tucked under her chin. "It's not over until I win."
Miss Martian's eyes glowed. "I'm sure you grabbed me because I seem vulnerable but I am stronger than I look." She said, activing her telepathy. She wasn't able to read his mind before due to the protection of his helmet but the several cracks in it now ensured that she could force her way in this time. His mind was a mess, quickly overwhelming her as she couldn't find any actual thoughts but a series of quickly flashing images.
...
A young man in a Robin costume choked as he and a few others rose to the surface of the water with an explosion going off behind him. An older boy on a water craft approached them. The man was wearing an all black costume with a blue bird across his chest. "Dude," Nightwing said leaning forward, "way to get your feet wet."
...
A young man puts his palm against a glass case. "How could you do this to me Bruce?" He moans, "how could you leave Damian without his father? me without..." He pounds on the glass. "I didn't want this, I didn't want to have to become like you." He sighs as he runs his hand through his messy black hair and walks away revealing a torn Batman costume.
...
"Mother... Call him off at once," a bleeding Robin implores Talia al Ghul as he staggers forward. There are broken bones and arrows in his flesh and yet he does not yield. But he's been too injured, too broken by the woman supposed to love him most in this world. Eventually he falls for the last time as his devastated father holds his body tightly.
...
"Get out of my head!" M'Gann vaguely hears a shout and she feels herself being pulled back to her body as she is pushed away. She is dizzy and disorientated but also really sad, like she's just suffered a terrible loss. Epoch is more hysterical than ever after the unwanted mental probe.
He stumbles backwards as he brings up his damaged wrist computer and begins typing furiously into it. "You don't understand who you are dealing with," Epoch raged. "I can go back and see that none of you wretched children exist. I can see to it that a scared little boy gets shot with his parents in an alleyway. I can undo your entire reality."
Robin extended out a hand to the villain. "Stop! You won't be able to time travel with the damage your suit has sustained, with the circuitry exposed like that-"
"Shut up child," Epoch interrupted as he finished his computations. "You don't understand time the way I do, I am it's master, it obeys only me. There is nothing or no one who can stop me." He shouted, punching in one last button. The suit crackled and began furiously spitting sparks as it attempted to open a wormhole. After a moment, Epoch realized what he had done and started frantically pulling on the components.
"Get back now!" Batman commanded, grabbing Robin by his cape when the boy had stepped forward to lend aid. Epoch stared up at them.
"No, wait this isn't-" Whatever he had been intending to say had been cut off as a massive amount of electricity coursed through him, the computer of his armor turning against him. M'Gann buried her face in Conner's shirt while a few of the others gasped. She squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the horrible sound of the body hitting the ground.
"Oh man," Wally muttered next to her and Robin just stared with wide eyes.
"I told him not to. I warned him, you heard me. I tried to..." Batman put a hand on his boy's shoulder.
"I know son, I know."
Infinity Island
March 20, 05:08 UTC
"Man this place is big," Artemis muttered under her breath as she ran. "Don't worry Tim, we'll be at the ship soon," she said breathlessly. Luckily, the exit to the island wasn't much farther and from there, she'd be piloting the Bioship in no time.
"Where is Batman?" An accented voice asked from the shadows caused Artemis to skid to a stop as she pulled out one of the knives she had strapped to her hip. She wasn't in much condition to fight but that doesn't mean she was going down easy. A few feet away, a beautiful woman stepped out with a small bag at her side and a bundle in her arms.
"Not here, you just have to deal with me Talia." Artemis replied fiercely even as she prepared herself to run. She's well aware of what the Daughter of the Demon was capable of and, even at her best, Artemis isn't sure she could take her.
Talia sighed angrily, shifting her bundle. "Men are never around when you need them," the woman muttered spitefully before turning her olive green eyes back to Artemis. "I need you to take something to him archer, something very precious, and then I need you to get far, far away from this island." Talia said authoritatively as she held out the bag for Artemis to take.
"What is it? A bomb? A tracker? You may think I'm stupid but I know-." Artemis said harshly, raising her voice only for a baby's cry to interrupt her. Tim peeked curiously over her shoulder while Artemis's eyes widened as she observed the bundle in Talia's arms for the first time. The older woman shushed the baby, rocking her arms gently until the cries began to lessen.
"Right now I am not a warrior, I am simply a mother trying to see that her child is cared for. I have seen his future, he grows up strong but I see now that his place isn't here. He belongs with his father." She looked down one last time at the baby, love and adoration written all over her face. "Can I trust you to take him to where he needs to be?"
Artemis straightened before reaching out and taking the bag. "Yes, I'm just going to get the ship and then I'm picking up the others." Talia nodded sadly, bring her forehead down to her child's.
"I love you Damian," she whispered quietly in Arabic, giving him one last, mournful kiss. "Be strong my love," she said tearfully as she gently handed over the baby who was wrapped in beautiful linens. Artemis smiled slightly as she took in the tanned baby with curious green eyes. She looked up to see that Talia was already halfway down the hall.
"Take care of him, and tell Batman," Talia said, pausing for a moment. "Tell him that I'm sorry, I wish circumstances had been different." The woman said sadly before disappearing altogether. Artemis stood there a moment longer, watching the place Talia had been. She thought how sad it must be, to know as a mother that you can't offer your child the home he deserves. Artemis shook her head, she was wasting time. She shifts the baby in her arms, ignoring how the extra weight pulls at her shoulder wound and keeps going.
XxX
"Artemis is at the Bioship," Miss Martian said quietly as she pointedly ignored the body on the floor. Everyone else was taking a few seconds to catch their breath before the inevitable firefight. Once they'd gotten over Epoch's accidental death, they'd noticed that Ra's al Ghul had slipped his bonds in the confusion and gotten away. They had to move fast now that the Demon's Head was out of their control.
Batman turned to address the group. "Alright listen up, we're not done yet. We need to get out of the base and onto the beach where Artemis is readying the Bioship for departure. With Ra's free, we may experience some resistance on our way out. I need you all to continue performing as admirably as you have." Batman stated as Superboy walked over and slung Epoch's body over his shoulder. None of them were happy about taking the corpse with them but they couldn't afford to leave that kind of technology with the League of Assassins. Not to mention they had to use it to get Thomas back home.
"Superboy, Aqualad, Kid Flash," Batman said gruffly. "You'll be in the front, the rest of you are behind me." He said as the Team fell into their positions. "Let's make this fast before Ra's is able to organize the rest of his soldiers." He said as they exited the training compound.
"We're just over 900 meters from the nearest exit," Damian said from the back as he directed them through the winding hallways. "But it's too quiet in here, Grandfather is up to something I'm certain." He muttered more to himself as he scanned the empty hallways.
"Infidels!" A shout came from behind them and it was Ra's right hand man, Ubu, followed by more ninjas than any of them could take. "We must not let them escape! Our Master has demanded their heads!" The rallying cry that followed the exclamation was almost as terrifying as the sound of an uncountable number of ninjas racing towards them.
"Oh man this is not whelming! Not whelming at all!" Robin said as they picked up the pace but they weren't sure they would be able to make it out in time before the ninjas got to them.
'Artemis,' Batman said into the mindlink. 'Change of plans, we're going to need the Bioship as close to our location as you can get. Be prepared to leave immediately after pick-up.' He turned to Kid Flash. "Check out the situation ahead, are there any soldiers impeding our path?"
The speedster nodded and zoomed quickly ahead before returning a few seconds later with a grim look on his face. "Good news is, I don't see any ninjas ahead, I think they're all behind us. Bad news is we're locked in with a pretty secure door." He noted shooting a glance at his best friend in the back, "unless a certain hacker would like to give it a go." Batman nodded, making room for Robin to slip past and grab at Kid Flash's shoulders.
"Get that door open, we'll meet you there." With that said, Kid Flash and Robin were gone.
Damian turned to look behind him. "They're catching up, we need that door open by the time we arrive or we're going to be overwhelmed." Batman grit his teeth as he pressed on, even his legendary endurance was beginning to give out. They needed to leave and they needed to leave now.
"Robin!" He shouted, hoping his partner could hear him.
"I'm trying but there's a lot of layers of code in this thing. I'm working as fast I can." Robin shouted back, typing quickly on his wrist computer but every code his put in, there was a counter code waiting for him. "What the heck is up with this system," he muttered as Wally anxiously gripped his shoulder.
"Bro they're almost here, come on." Kid Flash said in a shaking voice, the Team was only a thirty meters away now and the ninjas not far behind.
"This isn't as easy as it-" the lock suddenly clicked and the bolted door began to rise. Wally cheered in nervous relief, slapping his friend on the back as the others closed in.
"You rock dude!" Kid Flash said, while Robin looked down in confusion at his half completed code.
"But I didn't-" He looked up and caught a flash of long brown hair and green eyes before Wally was dragging him out the door followed very quickly by the others. Robin shook his head, "I'll try to shut it again."
"No time, there's the Bioship, we are leaving now." Batman grunted, grabbing Robin by his arm as they sprinted down to the beach where the ship was parked, no one needed any orders to get in as they piled themselves into the ship. Artemis initiating take-off procedures before the door was even closed as Miss Martian took over.
"Hang on, this is going to be rough." M'Gann gritted as the ship jerked high into the sky before zooming off leaving a hundred or so angry ninjas behind them on the beach. A moment of tense silence passed before one after another, Young Justice started chuckling and pretty soon they were all were cackling with relieved laughter.
Wally and Dick fist pumped even as the younger boy gripped his terribly bruised ribs. M'Gann smiled and kissed Artemis' cheek before settling the ship down to a more normal pace. Conner and Aqualad patted each other's backs as they fell back into their chairs. Even Batman breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he nursed his injured arm. All was merry until a quiet, persistent little cry broke through the merriment. The ship turned to face Tim who was trying unsuccessfully to calm down the baby.
Artemis walked over and grabbed the bundle before standing in front of Batman with a shy smile on her face. "I, uh, ran into Talia on my way to Bioship, she said you ought to have him," she said transferring the wriggling baby over to Batman's waiting arms. "She also wanted me to tell you that she was sorry and wished things could have been different." She muttered in embarrassment but Bruce wasn't listening anymore, instead he was staring at the babe in his arms, at his son.
Right now, he couldn't be Batman anymore so he peeled back his cowl and delicately ran his finger down the baby's smooth cheek. The baby cooed at the contact and gripped the finger with his tiny hand. Bruce couldn't stop staring. "Hello there," He said quietly, bringing his weary, blood streaked face down to his child's. "I'm your father." Bruce whispered, his face tight with emotion. The baby let go of his finger to pat his cheek.
They had done it, they were going to bring his son home. He was going to get another chance with his baby, he and the rest of his family. They were going to start over, make things how they should be. The Team watched with awe and happiness as the father and son were able to meet, properly, for the first time. A beautiful moment they all shared as a new family was created.
"Okay so," Artemis began in a hushed voice. "This is like the weirdest time to find out that Bruce Wayne is Batman."
We now have reached the second time during this fic that there were tears in my eyes. I can only hope it's as emotional for you. So! A lot happened in not a lot of time but they escaped, they have Tim and they have lil Dami too. Special shoutout to slytherinkyuubi on tumblr for the idea that Epoch has interacted with Terry McGinnis Batman. It has a special note of continuity that pleases the writer in me. Chapter 13 is by far my favorite chapter, it watered my crops, brought light back into my life. If you're gonna check out any chapter, check out that one. Oh! Comics reference, Damian had his spine replaced in Morrison's Batman and Robin and the flashforwards M'Gann sees are: clip from YJ S2E1, some time after Bruce's death, and of course Batman Inc #11.