Ch 21: Reparations
Wally's disappointed when John finally has to leave, but even that's not enough to kill his good mood.
"Thank you guys. So much." It means the world to him how hard his friends have tried to connect with the League. They were even able to draw John, who's been so grumpy lately, into the conversation. The inclusion seems to have crumbled some of the Lantern's walls against his other friends; he might yet see his family become whole.
It's something Wally never thought he'd have, and the chance at it is just, it's just… wonderful.
"We don't mind at all Wally! We really like them!" M'gann assures him. By all accounts, J'onn and M'gann hit it off the best. Whatever they did last night in their meditation, it brought the two close. J'onn seems all but ready to declare M'gann his family officially. Hell, the stoic Martian was actually smiling today. Wally's never seen the man's eyes glow with happiness like that. He's seen them literally glow with power, of course, but never with happiness. Wally loves it.
Clark and Conner, too, seem to have got on well. Kara stopped by on her way out for a mission to say hi, and the gentle teasing that occurred between her and her cousins was, well, adorable. M'gann practically cooed in delight when Kara walked away. Conner and Clark were embarrassed, but took the Team's ribbing with grace.
They were all surprised when Kaldur met them for lunch with Wonder Woman at his elbow. The Amazon lent her strength to their just-healed teammate, allowing him to demonstrate a steady gait that only their mental link revealed was a façade. Furthermore, Wally's two formality-obsessed friends seemed to get along as, well, people, rather than just their usual polite masks.
Of course, Artemis was already getting along with the other founders, especially Shayera, which just leaves…
"It was truly our pleasure, my friend." Kaldur agrees. "It's so interesting to compare and contrast these Leaguers with our own."
And Dick definitely flinched at that, just a little. Wally feels his eyes involuntarily narrow a little. Bruce. Of course his taciturn friend is at fault for Dick's face. He knows this Bruce, and how different he is from Dick's Bruce. He should have known, should have prepared Dick… too late now.
No. No it probably isn't. His best friend is anything but resentful. If Bruce apologized, Dick would forgive him. They could still salvage this, still keep Bruce from backsliding completely…
Of course, the trick would be getting Bruce to apologize. Wally's put too much effort into getting Bats to lighten up, to give up easily though. He's not letting the older hero's relationship with his 'son' go down the drain without a fight…
As if sensing Wally's non-linked thoughts, Dick chooses that moment to push their conversation forward.
"Can we go do something now? Like, maybe a sparring tournament. I'm dying to see if Wally kept up any of his skills at all." Wally pouts at his friend. He hasn't.
"Ugh, no," Artemis protests. "I spent all morning in there with Shayera."
"Ref for us then."
"…Fine. Don't beat him up too badly."
"Thanks for the concern, Babe."
They had begun heading back down towards the gym even as the conversation progressed. They all knew Wally and Artemis were going to lose this argument. With Artemis out of their 'tournament' Wally resigned himself to his fate; a couple of hours of being showed up by Conner and Dick. At that moment, though, the Team turned the corner, almost running directly into the Dark Knight.
"Bats!" Wally calls out, throwing up his arms in delight. This is perfect. He slings his arm around the older hero and says, "Just the man I needed to talk to."
"Talk to him later, Kid Mouth. We have a tournament to fight." Dick hints at him. Wally ignores him.
"I just have to give Bats a quick founders update. I'll catch up to you guys in a second!"
"Wally! You're not trying to get out of this, are you?" M'gann accuses in a teasing voice.
"Of course not! Would I do that?" His teammates stare at him. "Okay, fine. But I'm not this time. I'll be right behind you guys." He shoos them along, and they reluctantly obey. Wally keeps his hand on Bruce's shoulder, preventing his escape, until the Team turns down another corridor. Then, he turns to his friend and gives him a hard look.
"Whatever you did, it is not cool, man."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Wally stares at him. Bruce is – relative to his normal composure – twitchy and agitated. It's painfully obvious to Wally that he's off his game. He would have had a better defense otherwise.
"It was an accident,' The Dark Knight finally admits, an undertone of pleading to his voice. He's really off of his game, Wally realizes with some sympathy. It should have taken far more needling than one searching stare to get the Batman to open up.
That's… sort of impressive. Classic Dick, really. Only one night and he's already busted through the emotional barriers Wally has only dented in years. That means this is salvageable.
"Talk to him. He'll forgive you."
"Why should he?"
Wally was hoping Bruce would ask that. "Because he's Dick Grayson."
XxXxX
Wally runs off after his friends when they finish… talking. Bruce only hesitates a moment before following.
He remains unobtrusive in order to observe the younger heroes for a few moments. He hasn't yet seen Nightwing in action for himself; he has to admit that he's impressed.
The boy moves beautifully between his super-strong and super-fast opponents. Bruce can see exactly where his own training mingles with the boy's natural acrobatics. He even notices a few moves he's never seen before – perhaps remnants of his years as an aerialist or Black Canary's training.
The boy notices him all to soon, and when Bruce tilts his head to the door he receives a nod in reply. Nightwing makes his excuses, and meets him in the corridor.
"What's up? Did you figure something out from the data we compiled?"
Up close, Bruce can see Alfred's handiwork (his own handiwork) across the side of Nightwing's face. He feels the pain in his chest sharpen.
"No. I… uh… I wanted to talk to you." The boy's eyes clearly widen under his mask, and Bruce braces himself for the outrage. He shouldn't have listened to Wally. He hit the younger hero when the boy reached out to him. He's not just going to-
"Okay. Wanna walk?" Bruce's mouth clicks shut. He blinks under the cowl.
"Yes. That's a… good idea." They stroll in silence for a few moments. For better or for worse, the boy's going to force Bruce to speak first.
"I'm sorry." He blurt out, unable to think of anything else to say. Nightwing makes an accepting sort of humming sound.
"I figured you were. Was that all?" He doesn't seem spiteful, rather honestly curious.
Bruce fingers the folders he grabbed on his way here and recognizes there is more he wants to – needs to – say. "I'm sorry for my counterpart too. You would have been better off without us." That garners a reaction.
"Excuse me?" Nightwing wheels on him in outrage. Bruce is unperturbed. He needs to get his discoveries off his conscience. He needs to make the boy understand why he can't let him in. Why he'd rather he'd rather be brooding, and angry, and upset his fellow founders with his reticence than acquire the happiness his counterpart had found in family.
"I've looked into your counterpart, and the counterparts of your siblings. They're better off without me. That's why I can't let you in. Why your Bruce shouldn't have either."
Nightwing is shaking his head, as if refusing to believe what he's hearing. Bruce anticipated this. He presses the files he assembled this morning into the boy's hands. He pulls open the first, showing the pictures, newspaper articles, and other artifacts of life he had compiled to the boy.
"This is our world's Stephanie Brown. She's a single mother, but doing very well for herself as a child advocate within the CPS system. She was recently appointed as a liaison with Drake Industries' new medical charity, colloquially referred to as the 'Sickness Spoilers' for their work getting underprivileged children properly vaccinated. If the tabloids are to be believed, she and the Drake heir, Timothy, tend to spend more time together than strictly necessary for their work.
Dick gives the smallest shake of his head. Bruce sighs and shifts the folder to the bottom of the pile. He makes Dick open the second. This time, Dick gets stuck on the very first page. It's a police report. He looks up to Bruce with questioning eyes. He can't voice the question.
"Jason Todd. Arrested for trying to steal from the Batman, and other petty charges. Got some schooling as part of his stint in a juvenile detention center. It turned his life around; he now owns a small diner just outside the Narrows. It's doing well; a lot of kids from that area hand out there in the afternoon because it's declared neutral ground from the gangs, and he's a good enough fighter to enforce that. It's grown enough that he now has three employees, including the mysterious immigrant Cassandra Cain. Rumors are she's 'freaky accurate' at predicting when a fight's about to break out, helping Jason keep tensions low enough that the kids don't get into trouble."
"Good for them." Dick says hoarsely. He's finally caught his words. Bruce can see that it isn't enough, though. This hurts him, but it's not damning enough for Dick to really understand.
He makes Dick open the third file.
"Richard Grayson. Adopted by a couple from southern Gotham eight months after he entered Gotham Protective Services due to the death of his parents. Graduated top of his class from Gotham Police Academy, and is quickly rising to the rank of detective within the Bludhaven Police Department. Engaged to one Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Their biggest struggle will be deciding what color to paint the walls of her new office as she moves her cyber security company, Oracle, down to Bludhaven."
"So tell me, exactly, why you think I – my counter part, I mean – did you all any favors."
Nightwing just stares at the folders.
"Do you understand? How much better off you are here? You never lost your brother to the Joker's plans. Your sister never suffered under the Black mask. Barbara was never crippled. You weren't taken in by a selfish man who was so caught up in his own vendetta that he would sacrifice children for his end goals. In this world, you're all safe. You're all happy. How can you think-?"
"I'm happy."
This time, it's Bruce that stares.
"Bruce… I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but… you didn't ruin any of our lives. You don't understand how much you've changed us for the better. I love what we do, and who've I've met, and all the people we save. I love my brothers, and sisters, and aunts and uncles and the Team. I love you." He reaches out with his free handto touch Bruce's shoulder. Dick's masked eyes draw Bruce's cowled ones like a magnet. He can't look away now, no matter how hard he tries."If it were somehow possible, I wouldn't trade my life for his life. I wouldn't even think about it.
"I am so, so happy that this Richard Grayson is doing so well. Really. It's wonderful that me, and Jay and Babs and Timmy and Cass and Steph are happy and healthy and thriving. But none of us would trade what we've done with you to be in their places. None of us. Because even though things are hard, and sometimes we suffer for our line of work, we're still happy. We've made a new family, and we've done a lot of good. We've made something of our lives. That's all because of you, Bruce. Well, your counterpart, technically, but that capacity is still there inside of you.
"You don't get to decide what would be better for us. Not with out consulting us. Not at the expense of your own happiness. It's not selfishness to let people in, Bruce. It's selfish to keep them out, especially when they care so much about you. Maybe it's too late for you to get close to them," Dick holds up the folders, "and maybe it's not. But if nothing else, you have a family, and people that love you right here.
"Every version of you is really obtuse about these kind of things, so let me just spell it out for you. The way you feel about the other Founders? Don't lie to me!" Dick cuts off his attempt to protest. "I know you care deeply for them, and they feel the same way about you. Wally looks up to you. Shayera and J'onn respect you like a father – even if they sometimes have to rebel like teenagers to get their points across. J'onn thinks you're something like a moody nephew. Clark is forever trying to be your best friend and brother. Diana is even in love with you! Seriously. It's freaking me out to see Auntie Diana make googoo eyes at you… But that's not the point.
"The point is, they're your family. You need to trust them not to leave you at the drop of the hat. In return, maybe you could give them a reason to trust that you don't always have a secret ulterior motive to everything," Dick finished his tirade in a huff, crossing his arms. He doesn't know what else to say. Bruce doesn't seem to either; Dick's arguments and assertions have knocked him of his mental feet. He's still struggling to get up and get back in the race.
Dick realizes how lost Bruce is for the moment. He pulls on the man's arm, and starts them walking down the corridor again. Motion has always helped him think, and made it hard for Bruce to brood.
"Thank you, Dick." Nightwing stumbles.
"I'm sorry. What was that?"
"Thank you… for your opinion." Bruce amends quickly. "It is nice to know how you feel. I will keep your point of view in mind in the future." If Dick knew Bruce any less well, he would groan at the man's stubbornness. He does know Bruce that well, though, so he notices the slight hitches in the man's voice, and the way every step betrays the tension in his body. Bruce truly is thinking on his words. Good.
Dick dumps the files in one of the recycling bins they walk by, and Bruce doesn't stop him. Good, Dick thinks with a smile.
"You know, you didn't have a file on Damian in there. Is that because he doesn't exist here? Or because you couldn't find anything on him? As much as I really don't want to think about you and Talia doing the nasty, I wouldn't mind helping you look into it. If Dami exists, we should probably consider reclaiming custody of him ASAP. We could… hey! Are you even listening to me?"
The Dark Knight no longer seems to be paying attention now that they've reached the main bay; his head is swiveling back and forth. With each sweep his eyes make across the bay, his frown deepens.
"Where is everybody?"
"I… what do you mean?"
Bruce gestures to the bay. "There're far fewer people in here than usual."
"A lot of people have been getting called for missions today... Is that not normal?"
"Not to this extent. Where are the other founders? Are they here?"
"Um, M'gann says J'onn just left to take care of a crisis in South Rhelasia, so I think you and Wally are the only ones left." Dick can tell Bruce is narrowing his eyes behind the cowl.
"So most of the League's manpower and all of our heavy hitters have been called away? This – "
"Has to be a trap." Dick finishes for him, eyes widening. "Wally!"
He spins on his heel to head back towards his teammates. At that moment, the Watchtower lurches, sending the aerialist careening backwards. A hand on his back steadies him, and Dick gives a quick nod of thanks to Bruce before they both continue back down the corridor to where Wally is. Bruce barks orders into his comm as they go.
"Batman to the League; Watch Tower is under attack. Operate Defense Routine Sigma, with evacuation plan Priori Theta. Requesting back up from Alpha League members stat."
They turn down another hallway and the Tower shakes again. Lambent red tendrils rush down the corridor towards them, and their priorities have to shift to keeping themselves alive.
XxXxX
AN: That moment when this isn't even a cliffhanger compared to next chapter. *Preemptively sets up escape plans*
Also, a couple people have asked me what the timeline is on this. I've left that deliberately vague. Trying to mesh Earth-16 events and ages with DCAU events and ages gets very... sketchy. Plus, I'm awful at gaging kid's learning abilities - I don;t want to say the twins are 3, then write them like they're five, or vie versa.
In my head, it's been about three years since the YJ Season 2 finale, but please feel free to imagine whatever length of time makes the most sense to you.