The Batcave
Lara stared at the screen intently. She barely saw her father moving and destroying the droids because he was so fast, but she could feel that it was him. She was smiling the entire time and soon saw her mother swinging Deathstroke around and tying him up. Then Batman was hurt bad and her father was taking him somewhere. Lara heard Oracle speak up again.
"Pennybot prepare for transfusion. Bruce has lost a lot of blood." Pennybot moved quickly to prepare the medical area for Bruce.
"Will he be okay?" Lara was still staring at her dad on the screen carrying Batman.
"Yes he'll be fine Lara don't worry." For the first time in a while Oracle actually didn't know. Bruce had lost way too much blood for someone his age. Even if they could get him stable it wasn't likely that he could suit up anytime soon. His recovery time may take months especially with his stubbornness.
"Umm they're coming here?" Lara was nervous. She had thought of 20 million things she wanted to tell her father when they met again, but now she was worried.
"Is everything okay Lara?" Oracle heard the worry in Lara's voice.
"Do you think he'll remember me? Or even recognize me? It's been so long, what if he doesn't know its me?"
"He'll know its you Lara, trust me. Parents have a way of just knowing their child when they see them. Take it from someone who used to wear spandex at night to fight bad guys. Your father will recognize you." Oracle remembered when she told her father she was Batgirl and he only rolled his eyes. Jim Gordon was a great detective with an eidetic memory that he passed to her. He knew she was sneaking out at night and figured she was Batgirl after a few of their encounters with her in-costume. The Pennybot interrupted their thoughts.
"The medical bay is prepared for transfusion Oracle."
"Good they are entering the Cave now." Lara froze up as her hearing heard a whoosh and someone landing not too far from her. Her father's voice rung out clear as day.
"He lost consciousness when I cauterized the wound. He's lost a lot of blood, but his heart is still beating strongly." The Pennybot attends to Bruce quickly, hooking him up to monitors and starting to give him the blood he needed.
"Let the Pennybot work Superman, it can take it from here. Thank you so much for bringing him here quickly. He might not have made it if it weren't for you. Good to have you back." Superman looks to the screen.
"Good to be back Oracle." Now he was looking at Lara who was just frozen and staring at him.
Her father had on a black and white version of his suit with no cape and apparently grown a beard, but she knew it was him. Lara had dreams that were like this. She would see her father and he would reach out to her and take her hand. She would hug him, but then the dream would fade. Obviously, her dreams weren't in the Batcave but she was still scared she was dreaming. Kal walked slowly to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Lara? Are you okay?"
His touch woke her from her doubt and she jumped into his arms. She hugged as tight as she could and cried tears of joy into his neck. Kal returned her embrace as he felt her squeezing the breath out of him, she definitely had super strength. He rubbed her back and tried to soothe her. He could tell instantly it was her. She had her mother's eyes and his wild hair. Besides the hair she was the spitting image of Diana. Her cries stopped, and she squeezed a little less as she whispered to him.
"Is it really you? Please tell me I'm not dreaming Daddy."
"I'm here Lara." He looked at her and moved the hair out of her eyes.
"You've grown so much. I'm sorry for being gone so long. But I promise to make it up to you" Lara laughed a little and smiled.
"I'm taller than Mommy was when she was 10. I missed you so much, I'm so happy your back."
Lara resumes her hug. She won't let go ever. She has waited so long for this, but she knew this day would come. Kal is starting to tear up again before he realizes they are floating in mid-air. They must have forgotten to stay on the ground in the excitement. But then he realized he wasn't the one holding them up. Now he was even more excited.
"Lara! You can fly!" Lara looked down from where they were hovering, and her smile grew.
"Oh I'm the best flyer Daddy I even beat Mommy in a race. Plus, I can see and hear really far away. And I've been training with my sisters to be the best amazon warrior like Mommy. And I can do Mommy's scary eyes, but I can't really control when. And I can do heat vision, but I don't like it cuz it hurts. And- "
Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Robin were arriving now. They had pushed the droids completely back and allowed the other Knights to relieve them while they returned to the cave. Catwoman and Robin rushed to Bruce's side while Diana walked slowly to where Kal and Lara were hovering. Lara was talking way too fast like usual, but Diana had no doubt he heard every word and was listening intently. As she predicted Lara was incredibly giddy and was telling Kal everything her little mind could come up with. She wanted to join them, but thought Lara should have her own moment with her father. She turned to check on Bruce, but was tackled by Lara.
'Mommy! You did it! You brought Daddy back! I knew you would," Lara hugged her mother and started dragging her back toward Kal.
"You were right Lara." Diana grinned at Kal.
"As soon as I told him you would give him a big hug he came right back."
Kal shared her smile before joining the embrace with his family. They were together again. A reunion that was more than overdue. But now they were all here together and nothing would ever separate them again.
"OhmyGoddess Mommy! It was so cool how you grabbed Deathstroke with your lasso and swung him around than stomped on his chest. You have to teach me that. And then Daddy! First the droids were there, and I blinked and they were gone. And you were smashing them and using your heat vision on them and everything. You were going so fast I could barely keep up with you. OhmyGoddess it was so cool watching you do hero stuff. You have to teach me how to go fast and do all of that."
Both Kal and Diana smiled at their little warrior. Whoever was dumb enough to try to separate the 3 of them again was going to have a bad time.
Close by Damian held onto Selina as the Pennybot continued to tend to Bruce. He bandaged the grizzly wound Bruce suffered due to Deathstroke and covered other spots on his body that were bruised or bleeding. The slash from Deathstroke was not the most lethal blow the Dark Knight had taken, but at his age it had been quite deadly. After a few long minutes Bruce was stable and receiving blood.
"Severe bruising on the forearms and midsection. Four broken ribs and a lacerated kidney. The cut is around 15 inches long horizontally and 1-inch long vertically. Fortunately, Master Kent-Prince's interference seems to have saved Master Wayne from needing surgery or stitches. It's a miracle he didn't pass out during the fight from the shock." Selina was sobbing softly into Damian as they heard the news. Tears of anger and hatred as well as sadness. She hated seeing any of them hurt and wanted to rip Deathstroke apart for what he tried to do.
"So, he's still way to stubborn to die. Good to know Pennyworth." The joke from Damian lightened the mood, but they still needed to hear the prognosis.
"I would advise him not to do much for the next month to allow his wound and kidney to heal. But knowing him he'll be up and barking orders to everyone as soon as he wakes up. Hopefully Mrs. Wayne can convince him to take his recovery more serious this time." Selina nods at that.
"I'll make sure he doesn't push it this time. Thank you Pennybot." The Pennybot goes away to retrieve more fluids for Bruce.
Selina lets go of Damian to walk up to Bruce and hold his hand. She brushes his face and notices how pale he is. All of the years of fighting have littered his body with scars from the battles. But now the injuries are taking their toll. Taking a blow like he did would put a dent in whatever he was planning with his new League. Damian takes his place on the other side of Bruce.
"He's gonna be okay. He'll be back to scowling at us in no time." Damian is trying to make Selina feel better.
"I know. I just don't want his body to give up on him. I don't want to lose him before we win this thing. It would crush me." Selina had grown accustomed to being vulnerable like this with her family. She didn't want to live in a future without Bruce.
"I'm sorry Selina I should have got there sooner. I made so many mistakes today and almost got Father and Todd killed. If it weren't for Wonder Woman and Superman we would both be dead." Damian stares at the bloody suit situated on a table near them. He knew that sooner or later the cowl would be passed down. The fight had to continue even if a new Batman was needed. Damian wondered if his father would trust him enough to take up his mantle and shoulder the legacy of the Batman. Especially after all his slip ups today. He was an assassin trained by the greatest teachers to be the most lethal weapon possible. And now he had training from the Batman himself, but it still wasn't enough. He still wasn't worthy to bear the name Al Ghoul or Wayne.
"Those tears for me Selina?" Bruce stirred.
"Bruce!" Selina reaches down and hugs him gingerly, so she doesn't mess up Pennybot's hard work.
"Hey Cat. How do I look?" Selina kisses him briefly.
"Like hammered shit Bat. Just how I like you." She grins and kisses him again.
"Guess I'm not dead then. Good. Report." Bruce looks to Damian.
"We pushed back the droids and captured Deathstroke with Wonder Woman's help. Grayson and Drake are helping to stabilize Metropolis and all the other cities are doing fine. We won the day again Father." Bruce nods his approval.
"Oracle? Make sure the patrol is diligent tonight. We know they like to try re-attacks and trying to kick us when we are down. What is Jason's condition?" Bruce hadn't checked on him before he went to fight Deathstroke.
"It's handled Bruce and Jason's recovering in Metropolis hospital for the burns, but he will be fine too. Good job not dying out there today. I'm gonna punch you the next time I see you. Oracle out." The three of them chuckled at that. The dry humor and sarcasm was how they dealt with constantly being at war. Any day one of them could fall, but the fight would need to go on.
"I'm sorry Father." Damian's head is down, and Bruce looks at him confused.
"If it weren't for my mistakes today none of this would have happened." Bruce reaches out to grab Damian's hand.
"I know I'm hard on you Damian, but I just want you to be in the best position possible. I had complete faith in you to handle this well and you did. You made mistakes, but you didn't let that stop you. You protected your family and made good decisions down the line. I'm proud of you Damian and I hope you realize that I trust you with my life." Damian was shocked a little at his father's words. Maybe he was still light-headed from losing so much blood.
"I trust you too Damian. You did good little kitten."
Selina smiles and reaches to grab his other hand. Now Damian is sure he got hit harder on the head than he thought. But then he realizes he almost lost his father and one of his brothers today. So, he joins his family in a rare embrace that lets them know that they are all still there and they love each other.
