Sunshine (DCAU)

Martha Wayne rushed into the nursery, picking up her screaming baby boy. She immediately pulled him close to her, carrying him to the rocking chair. "Now, now," she cooed. "What's the matter, Bruce?"

The baby sniffled as hiccoughing sobs escaped his lips. Tears streamed down his red face as she spoke tender words to him in an effort to calm him down. She gently wiped his tears from his face before checking his diaper to find it dry.

"Well, it's not your diaper," she decided. "Are you hungry? Is that what's going on?"

Adjusting her nightgown, she brought the crying infant to her breast to feed him. He latched on immediately, sucking furiously as she stroked his cheek. "That's what you were wanting, wasn't it? You certainly have quite the appetite."

He gazed up at his mother with big blue eyes filled with curiosity and wonder. There was already a bond that had formed between mother and son, one that even death couldn't sever. He reached up with his little hand towards her as he eagerly sucked.

She held out her hand, his small fingers wrapping around her pinkie finger. "You have a very strong grip," she praised him. "You're going to be so strong when you grow up. I just know you're going to do amazing things someday just like your father."

Finishing eating, Martha held her baby against her shoulder, patting his back as she began to softly sing. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," she sang as Bruce's eyes grew heavy with sleep once more.

"You make me happy when skies are gray," she continued. "You'll never know, dear how much I love you. Please, don't take my sunshine away."

She rocked him for a few more minutes before getting up and tucking him back into his crib. She stood over him watching him sleep, reaching out to brush the dark strands from his forehead. She couldn't deny the immense wave of love that filled her heart as she gazed at her son.

Leaning over, she kissed his forehead. "Sleep well, my sunshine."

Adjusting his blanket, she turned to walk out, softly closing the door behind her.

XXX

Five-year-old Bruce cried out as he fell from his bike, his knees hitting the pavement first before his hands followed suit. Tears began to course down his cheeks as blood trickled down his shins from his skinned-up knees.

Finding him sitting in the driveway beside his fallen bike, his father ran to him. "Bruce!" he called as he drew near.

"My knees, daddy!" he cried, horrified by the blood he found there.

"I'll get you all patched up," he assured him, scooping his son up into his arms and carrying him into the house.

Bruce clung to his father, his small hand clutching his dad's shirt. "It hurts," he howled.

"I know it does, but you'll feel better soon…I promise," he told him.

Taking him into the bathroom, Thomas carefully set him down on the vanity before searching for the first aid kit. Finding it, he opened it up and pulled out the antiseptic. Bruce began to cry harder as his father cleaned his wounds, nearly hyperventilating from his tears.

"Bruce, I need your help," he said as he worked, knowing he needed to distract his son. "Help me remember. What's the song that your mom always sings to you to make you feel better?"

"Su…sun…sun…shine," he managed to choke out between gulping gasps for air.

"That's it," he replied with a grin, putting Band-Aids on his knees. "Can you help me sing it? I can't remember the words."

Bruce used the back of his hands to wipe the tears from his face as he struggled to catch his breath. "You…you are my…sunshine…"

"My only sunshine," Thomas sang next, taking his small hand in his to begin the process of picking the small stones that had embedded themselves in the palms of his hands. "What comes next?"

"You make me happy," Bruce told him, calming some. "But I don't feel happy right now, daddy."

"I know, but you know what comes next. You make me happy when skies are glum," Thomas crooned with a twinkle in his eyes.

"No, daddy," Bruce corrected him with an adamant shake of his head. "It's when skies are gray, not glum."

"That's right," he agreed, removing a stubborn stone from his hand.

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you," Bruce sang.

"Please don't take my sunshine away," they finished together.

"There," Thomas said, adding a bandage to the palm of his son's hand. "Good as new. You were very brave, Bruce. I'm proud of my big boy."

"I cried, daddy," he pointed out. "That's not being a big boy."

"It's okay to cry," he reassured him, picking him up off the vanity and carrying him out of the bathroom in his strong arms. "Sometimes when we hurt, we just have to let it out somehow."

Bruce wrapped his arms around his father's neck, laying his head on his shoulder. "It came out all on its own."

Thomas patted his back as he carried him downstairs and into the kitchen. Alfred greeted them with a knowing smile and a plate of cookies. "I hear there's a little boy in need of some cheering up," Alfred said, setting the plate on the table with a glass of milk.

"I think his mother's song helped, but cookies and milk will definitely make it all better again," Thomas agreed, sitting at the table with his son.

XXX

Standing before his parent's headstones, Bruce could feel the tears welling in his eyes as memories of a horrifying night sprang to mind just like it always had since then. He knew that his father had told him once that sometimes he just needed to let the hurt out, but he was too angry at that moment to allow tears to fall. There had to be a different way to get the hurt out.

He was going to channel that hurt and fury into vengeance. He knew no other way to deal with this painful loss than to turn it into something positive. A plan was beginning to take shape in his mind, one that would require more work for it to be brought to fruition.

Bruce crouched down before his father's grave, reaching out to brush a couple of leaves off the headstone. Memories of time spent with his father paraded through his mind; a childhood cut far too short thanks to a punk with a gun in an alley.

He'd been forced to grow up too fast, missing out on all the father-son times that normal families got to share in. He wasn't there to show him how to shave or teach him how to drive. Where was he when he was getting ready for his first date to tell him all about girls?

He could feel the bitterness welling up inside of him all over again. He quickly tamped down on it as he caressed his father's headstone. He knew it wasn't his father's choice to die, but he had given up his life for his family, trying to protect those he loved most.

Turning to his mother's grave, a sad small smile formed on his lips. He needed the comfort that his mother always provided him, but she was no longer here to provide it. He wanted to hear her soothing voice just one more time, to listen to her singing her song for him, but it was not meant to be.

Standing to his feet, Bruce stared for a long moment at their headstones, a part of him wishing he would've died with them in that alley. Alfred had told him long ago that he had been saved for something far more…a greater purpose. His parents would want him to move on and live the life that they had always wanted him to have.

It was proving harder to do than he'd ever dreamed possible.

"Master Bruce," Alfred softly intruded on his private moment with his parents. "It's getting late. We need to leave."

"How can I leave them, Alfred?" he murmured, his gaze never leaving them as he sadly shook his head.

Alfred's hand came to rest on Bruce's shoulder, attempting to provide a measure of comfort that he sorely needed. "They would want you to go, Master Bruce," he reassured him. "They would be so proud of what you've been able to accomplish…being accepted at Yale. They only ever wanted you to be happy."

"I'm going to make it up to them somehow," Bruce voiced his thoughts. "I'm going to make it right someday."

Bruce turned to walk away, Alfred falling into step close beside him. Alfred softly started to hum a beloved tune that Bruce hadn't heard since losing them when he was eight years old. His mother's voice unexpectedly began to swirl about in his mind, the familiar words bringing him so much comfort as they walked towards the waiting car.

"You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…"

Climbing into the back of the limo, Bruce stared out the window at their gravesite, anguish mingled with the soothing touch of a mother's voice invading his heart. A single tear rolled down his cheek, one that he furiously brushed away with an air of annoyance.

Somehow…someway…he would make all of this right again for them.

He knew in his heart there would never be any more sunshine in his life…not since he was eight years old.

XXX

Batman crouched low behind a row of dumpsters, knowing that he needed to make his move soon or risk losing the perp altogether. He couldn't allow that to happen. Too much was at stake. He was going to have to act fast.

The door across from his crouched position cracked open, casting a dingy yellow light on the dark alley. A burly man cautiously peered outside, casting a furtive eye first left and then right before finally exiting. He was dragging a four-year-old girl behind him by the wrist, telling her to be quiet.

The little girl continued to cry despite his growling tone and his constant threats to harm her if she didn't keep quiet. "I want my mommy and daddy!" the blond-haired girl cried, digging her heels in as she struggled to break free from his hold on her.

"You ain't seeing them ever again, honey," he told her with a grunt of amusement. "I can get a pretty penny for you on the market. A blond hair, blue-eyed girl like you can nab me a lot of dough."

The girl released a shrill scream at the top of her lungs, causing the kidnapper to rear back with his thick hand to slap her across the face. He was brought to an unexpected stop by a vice-like grip on his wrist, forcing him to stop in mid-swing.

"What the—" he cried in shock.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Batman growled deeply; the slits of his cowl narrowed in fury.

"No…no…not you!" he sputtered. "I wasn't gonna hurt her—honest! I just found her…was gonna return her to her parents."

"That's not what I heard," Batman rasped darkly, looming large and foreboding over the kidnapper. "I think you need to be taught a lesson about taking children."

"I won't do it again!" he promised, holding up his hands before him as he began to back away. "I swear. I'll go straight. Just don't hurt me!"

Batman slammed his fist right into the face of the man, hitting him between the eyes and knocking him out cold. He quickly cuffed him before tying him up and leaving him dangling from a light pole for the GCPD to pick up to take to jail.

The Dark Knight turned to find the little girl curled up into a tight ball against the wall crying uncontrollably. He slowly made his way to her, stopping a few feet away from her before crouching down before her. "Emily," he gently called her name. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to take you back to your mom and dad."

A single eye peeked out from behind her hands. She was shaking violently as she stared at the fearsome Batman. Without a second thought, she lunged at him, nearly knocking him backward as she wrapped her little arms around his neck. She clung to him for all she was worth, knowing he had just saved her.

Batman was momentarily taken aback by her reaction to him. Most people cowered away in fear of his foreboding appearance. This little girl, on the other hand, wasn't afraid of him. She continued to cry, trembling with the fear that still coursed through her, but she knew that she was finally safe.

He carefully straightened up, his large, gauntleted hand coming to rest on her back. He began to walk towards the end of the alley, humming softly to her without even realizing it. It startled him when finally he comprehended the fact that he was humming the very song that his own mother had always sung to him to comfort him.

He hadn't thought of that song in over twenty years.

Emily seemed to settle down as he continued to hum to her, surprising him with the sense of comfort it seemed to bring to the both of them.

XXX

Diana was awakened by the sound of her crying newborn, wishing someone had informed her that colic was a very real possibility when it came to an infant. She groaned as she began to sit up, flipping the covers off her only to stop short by an unexpected voice on the baby monitor.

"Hey there, princess," she heard Bruce coo to their daughter. "What's the matter?"

Diana smiled softly to herself as she laid back down, pulling the covers back over her. She listened intently as her husband tended to their infant daughter, enjoying every single second of witnessing this side of him that she'd never seen before their daughter's birth.

"You soaked through your pajamas, Livy," Bruce told her. "Let's get you all cleaned up."

She listened with rapt attention as he talked so sweetly to their little Olivia, taking his time to change her diaper and get her redressed in clean pajamas. "We'll let Grandpa Alfred wash your pajamas for you tomorrow," he told her.

Diana could hear Livy making noises in response to every word that her father was speaking to her. It was as if she was hanging on his every word. Every time Bruce held her, Livy would stare up at him in absolute wonder as if completely mesmerized by him. She could tell even now that the bond between father and daughter was strong. It caused her heart to melt with the thought.

Her lips curled into a grin as Bruce began to sing to his daughter, a song about sunshine that Diana had never heard before. She listened closely as he sang so gently to her, his deep baritone voice nearly lulling her back to sleep as well.

Before she knew it, Bruce was entering their bedroom, closing the door behind him. He stopped short in embarrassment when he noticed Diana was awake. "Please tell me you didn't hear that," he said as he finally climbed into his side of the bed.

"Every single word," she confirmed with a grin that seemed to illuminate the entire bedroom.

Bruce groaned as the back of his head sank into the pillows behind him. "It was a song…my mother used to sing it to me all the time," he softly revealed as if lost in distant memories, wondering what Diana would think.

Diana leaned over, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss as she crawled over him. Gazing down at him with nothing but absolute adoration gleaming in her blue eyes, her hands moved to cradle his face. "I think it's the sweetest thing I've ever heard," she admitted, her lips grazing his before nipping playfully at his bottom lip.

"You don't know that song?" he asked, surprised by her response as his arms looped around her waist.

"I never heard it before," she told him as she caressed the side of his face. "Will you sing it for me again?"

He averted his eyes, a crooked smile forming on his lips. "I don't know," he playfully replied, his mind taking him back to rescuing little Emily in that alley a couple of years ago. "If it ever got out that Batman sings 'You Are My Sunshine', it could severely damage my reputation."

"It'll be our little secret," she murmured against his lips, trying to tempt him into answering her request.

Bruce sat up abruptly, flipping his wife over onto her back before settling on top of her. He gazed deeply into her sapphire eyes before kissing her soundly. "You are my sunshine…" he softly sang between kisses along her jaw to her ear. "My only sunshine…"

Her only response was a contented, drawn-out sigh as he continued to sing to her.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed a little sweetness! I'll start posting Marked for Death during the first week of January! :)