None of the Batman's students were really prepared for what to do in the event of his death. They were all so convinced he could only have been killed by extra-dimensional beings and rampaging gods that the cruel reality of such a sudden demise left the six without a clear path forward.

There were others of course, from all walks of life, from the wayward ally Huntress to the long since opposing Red Hood. But Bruce Wayne valued six as his most prized and precious pupils: his sons Dick, Tim and Damian, his daughter Cassandra, his daughter-in-law Stephanie and the one above all else he called "partner," Barbara. The six, along with his second father Alfred, were left a majority of his estate, with smaller pieces bequeathed to the likes of Selina Kyle and Lucius Fox, a small fortune even somehow privately given to Doctor Victor Fries, under the condition the funds could only be used for medical purposes. Three years later, the United States Center for Disease Control received a vial and some instructions on preparing new batches of its contents. It bore no return address, but was signed From Victor and Nora, each signature distinct from the other.

That Batman family were left with the matter of responding to his death, no one really sure what direction to take as they sat in their former leader's study, flames dancing in the fireplace. "Sooner or later Gotham's going to notice," Tim said. "I think we all learned our lesson about power vacuums back in the Matches Malone incident."

"No need to rub salt in the wound there or anything, Tim," Stephanie said, rolling her eyes.

"If we need a different example, I'll remind you I'm the one who had to tag along with Jean Paul Valley after Bane broke Bruce's spine," Tim said. "Not having Batman is hard enough, but it starts opening the floodgates for having worse people show up."

"You can't just rush out there in my father's costume," Damian said. "Maybe some of the idiots at the bottom of the food chain won't notice, but you and Grayson are a far cry from him. Anyone whose actually fought him will know in an instant. Grayson wastes his time with flips and tricks and you, Drake, you have the reaction time of a drunk toddler."

"Watch your mouth over there," Dick said. "We've all having a hard enough time coping as is."

"Better be glad I have such a slow reaction time," Tim said. "Otherwise I'd have already punched your lights out."

"Getting back to the topic at hand," Barbara said, "We'll probably at least have some time before everyone starts to notice. Bruce could only ever be in one place at a time, after all. Maybe we can come up with an excuse without damaging the symbol's power."

"They will know," Cassandra said quietly, eyes facing downward. "You know that, Barbara. Without him, the bat means nothing."

"It doesn't mean nothing, Cassie," Stephanie said. "Our costumes still have bats on them, and bad guys surrender to you on sight…. They usually kick me around a little, but no one messes with The Angel, you know that."

"… You actually may be on to something there, Steph," Dick said. Every eye turned to him as he said it, waiting for him to continue. "Maybe we can't hide that Bruce is gone, but we can let them know we won't stand for an uprising just because he's gone. We can re-embroider the suits, slap a bat on every one of them. Maybe one of us shouldn't play at being Batman, maybe we all have to."

"I'm sure Gotham's underworld is just going to be quaking in their boots because the circus boy replaced his bird with a bat," Damian said. "Seriously, for the umpteenth time, I know where three of my grandfather's Lazarus Pits are, and I know one is usually minimal security—"

"And for the umpteenth time, the answer is no," Barbara snapped. "No Lazarus Pits, no deals with the Phantom Stranger, no calling on anyone with a time machine. Somehow, someway doing that will probably cause Condiment King to become a Kryptonian or something and then he's trying to kill us for all the times we mocked him." She let out a sigh as she looked at her team, resting her head on an open hand. "You five are going to have a lot on your hands for a while. If I could get up and fight beside you, I would."

"… Five might be pushing it a little there, Babs…" Everyone turned to Stephanie as she exchanged her own with Tim, who gave her a nod. "I wanted to wait until things were going better. Not bring this up at a bad time." Her hand rested gently on her stomach. "You know how they say when one door closes, another one opens? I think we lost one of us just in time for another."

Barbara, Dick and Damian had their own looks mixed from surprise, happiness and unease. Cassandra just looked confused. "I don't understand."

Stephanie's laugh shattered the tension, and within moments the others were joining her."Cassie… we're having a baby. Tim's going to be a dad, I'm going to be a mom, and you're going to be a godmother."

…

Tim sat in his office, putting in his nominal hen hours of work per week. Years ago he had been content to let the company run itself, but as instances of cyber attacks grew more common, he arrived just long enough to double check the many proposals his shareholders funneled to him. The outline of a black goatee showed upon his face and between emails he wondered if he should grow it out again. Robin had said it made him look like a super-villain. Tim had told her bad people could look like anyone and she shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions, but her words had gotten to him and he gave in and shaved. He was always trying to win his daughter's approval.

His children didn't know about his and their mother's past lives. Oscar had only been a year old when the suits had been retired, and it wasn't as if any proof of the days of old had been left for him to find. Robin wasn't an unpopular name in Gotham, with two others (a boy and a girl) both in his daughter's grade. Tim had insisted they go to public school, after how disjointed and distant private school had made him from his own parents.

He turned up at the sound of a light tapping on his office door, though noted the knocker had let himself in before making the sarcastic sound. It was Don Briggs, one of his personal assistants. "Mister Drake, Derek Powers has sent over another representative. Security just showed him out, but he swears Powers' firm won't let up until you open discussion on the merger again."

"Powers can send me a dozen informants every day of the week," Tim said. "He's wasting his time. Maybe he'll hire so many I can buy him out and close down those ticking nuclear plants he has running just outside our city."

"If you say so," Briggs said.

"Lexcorp called it quits, this guy will too." Tim said. The cellphone on his desk began to ring, and he shooed Briggs away with the words, "That's probably my wife." As his associate stepped out, he answered with, "Hello?"

"Hey, Tim," Stephanie said, the sound of rattling and metal in the background reminding him she was heading out of town by train that day. "I just got a call from Samuelson. Oscar's in the principal's office again."

Tim sighed. "What now?"

"Some kids were making fun of Robin's name, she got a pigtail pulled at recess. Oscar saw it and punched one right in the face. Apparently Sarah got in the middle of it and she's in there too. I'd go and handle this, but I'm halfway to Metropolis right now."

"Yeah, I know," Tim said. "I'll handle it. See you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you too." Stephanie said as she ended the call and sank back into her seat.

An older woman sitting across from her looked up from her newspaper, as if looking for something to do. "He sounds like a good man."

"My husband? Yeah, I like him I suppose,"Stephanie said with a little laugh.

"I hope you're all taking extra care. Those cursed Batman stories are coming up again. I'm hoping to get away from them for a bit.

"Yeah, sure," Stephanie said. "I'm just going to visit my dad. Trust me, he hates Batman."