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It was getting late as Bruce, Tim, Damian and Dick headed back to their car in the parking lot. Part of Bruce felt guilty for not being on patrol yet, but with Alfred on vacation he had to bring his boys out to eat somewhere. They already tried cooking for breakfast and that ended in disaster. They had even invited Jason to come, but of course he said no. Then Dick wanted to watch a movie, the new Disney one with the Frozen short in the beginning. It wasn’t until after the movie that Bruce found out Dick only wanted to watch the short and they could have left anytime after that. Frustrated as he was, he let it slide. They didn’t often go out together, and Bruce was pretty sure this was one of the only chances he would get to make Damian watch a children’s movie.
It was already late, which meant it was perfect time for the Batman to be out. If they hurried, they could be out on the streets before midnight.
“Move faster Drake. There are things I must attend to once we arrive at the Manor,” Damian said. It was a mutual understanding that by things, Damian meant crimes and investigations.
“Yeah yeah. We all do. And just for your information, you should be the one trying to keep up with me.” The moment he finished his sentence, Tim dashed in front of the group with a huge smirk aimed at Damian. Damian hissed and started running after his brother.
“Everything between those two has to be a competition,” Dick said humorously as he and Bruce picked up pace behind the two Robins.
Though he had vigilante speed, Bruce chose to be slower than the others, only to seem as if fathering children had been tiring him out over the years; just in case anyone was watching. Dick noticed this and stopped to let Bruce catch up.
“Don’t tell me you’re getting tired already, B,” Dick remarked cheerfully, “I know you’re old but you aren’t that old.” Dick chuckled and Bruce grunted, which was Bruce-language for a laugh.
“Where’s Tim and Damian?” Bruce asked, not caring to answer Dick.
“They just turned the corner and are probably waiting at the car by now,” Dick replied as they began to walk again. “Can I drive this time?”
“No. This is my car. I’m driving.” Bruce said without hesitation. He remembered the last time Dick drove and it nearly gave him a heart attack. Bruce still had to follow up on getting Dick into rode safety classes.
They had parked in an outdoor lot that was a bit far from the theatre. It wasn’t ideal but Bruce was having a hard time finding a space. He was already fed up with Damian and Tim arguing in the back seat and decided that, even if they parked far, at least he could spare himself and Dick from being stuck in the car with those two constantly shouting.
Because the lot was so far, Tim and Damian had chose to take the short cut Bruce had forced them to avoid when they first left the car. It was through an alleyway. Late nights, theatres, alleyways, Bruce was having Deja’vu. Seeing as they were in such a hurry to get home though, Damian and Tim ignored the thought entirely and dashed straight into it.
“They went through there?” Bruce looked at the alley like it might swallow him if he got too close. Although Bruce hid it well, Dick could hear the hesitancy in his voice.
“Bruce relax. This is the good part of town and it’s a really short walk through. Plus, we all know how to defend ourselves if things get rough.” Dick tried to assure him that nothing was going to happen, but it didn’t quite quell the fear Bruce had buried all those years ago.
No, that wasn’t right. Bruce was a fully functioning adult who could take care of himself (maybe not cook for himself but that didn’t really matter) and his sons. He wasn’t supposed to be scared of these things anymore. Hell, he was the goddamn Batman, he had faced much more dangerous things than an alleyway in his life, they all had. But yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling.
“I didn’t say anything about being scared, Dick. Let’s go. The faster we get to the car the faster we get home.” Bruce said, brushing off Dick’s encouragement. He decided he was just going to have to stomach the feelings.
Bruce and Dick turned into the alleyway. It was dark and cold. At the end, they could vaguely see Damian’s and Tim’s figures just waiting.
“Huh. Didn’t think they would wait for us in their hurry. You think they finally made a truce or something?” Dick joked and giggled to himself.
“Hnn.” Bruce didn’t exactly feel obligated to reply.
There was something wrong. The closer they got to Damian and Tim, the more they could make out. It looked like the two were talking, but not to each other, to someone else in front of them. Not only that, but they were in a defensive stance, facing toward whoever they were speaking to.
Bruce was close enough now he could almost make out the figure in front of them. He was tall with a strong build that made Tim and Damian look much smaller than they actually were. He had an arm extended and pointing towards Damian’s forehead. What was in his hand made Bruce sprint towards his sons.
“Rich kids like you gotta have something in those pockets, now had’em over brats or the little one here get his brains blown,” the sinister voice sent a chill down Bruce’s spin that reminded him too much of that night.
“Hey! Leave him alone! He’s just a kid!” Bruce could hear Tim shout. “How about you just put down the gun and then we’ll give you what you want.” Bruce was almost to them now. In his side view, he could see Dick running with him.
The gunman’s gaze never left Damian. “Nice try kid. You have 10 seconds to hand me something valuable before I kill your brother.” Damian froze. He wasn’t sure what to do. He could disable the man, but without his Robin gear, and noting the sheer proximity of the gun, there was no way he could avoid taking a lethal hit. Damian bit back a curse for not noticing the gunman sooner. He looked to Tim who glared cautiously towards the gunman. His finger was on the trigger and seemed to be a little twitchy. If Tim so much as breathed too aggressively, he had no doubt that the man would shoot.
They were out of options when they heard footsteps running behind them.
“I see you! Don’t you fucking move or somebody dies!” The gunman yelled hysterically, but his aim never wavering. He was getting impatient.
“They’re my sons. Please don’t shoot.” Bruce said as calmly as he could trying to get close enough to grab Damian.
Dick made it to Tim and shielded his little brother from the danger. Bruce was slowly making his way towards Damian, careful not to jostle the criminal. The man’s face was steaming with anger and greed.
“Well look what we have here. Thought those kids of your’s looked familiar. You’re Bruce Wayne, one of the richest men in Gotham.” The man chuckled deviously and stared straight at Bruce. “Now kiddos, lets see how much daddy dearest values your lives.” If even possible, the man moved closer to Damian, putting the gun just inches away from the boy’s face. “Gimme everything on you that’s valuable.”
Bruce froze. It was happening again, but now he was the parent, and he had kids and he needed to protect them and he felt like he was suffocating because it was happening again.
He tried to calm himself. Batman had dealt with worse than just muggers. He had stared down the barrel of a gun before. All of his Robins had stared down the barrel of a gun and survived without even a single scratch, but this was different. It wasn’t Batman and Robin standing off against a criminal this time, it was Bruce Wayne and his family being held up by a man threatening their lives. The last time this happened, things didn’t end well.
Bruce took a deep breath and calmly reached for his wallet. He thought about that night and how his father refused to give his mother’s pearl necklace. Maybe if he had, they wouldn’t have gotten killed. Bruce had to try that now. It was his only option.
Dick, Tim, and Damian looked at him in absurdity. Bruce Wayne, their stubborn father, the Batman, was giving the criminal exactly what he wanted. He was acting as if he was really just playboy billionaire father Bruce Wayne and not the fear-inspiring Batman. It was as if all those years of vigilantism and training just disappeared. Of course they knew that Bruce couldn’t use all of his vigilante training to stop the man, but they also knew that he could use just a bit of those skills to get them out of this. Bruce Wayne could simply say he was very good at self-defense and the media would buy it. They had before.
As he watched Bruce hand over his wallet, Dick realized what was really happening. Bruce was scared. Sure, he looked scared, but Dick had just assumed that was to keep up his secret identity. He never thought that Bruce could actually be scared of something. For some reason, that terrified Dick more than anything is his whole vigilante career ever had.
Well of course he is. Dick thought to himself. He’s practically reliving the worst night of his life.
“That’s right, nice and slow.” The gunman chided. He took the wallet from Bruce’s hand but never released his aim on Damian. “Feels heavy. That’s good.”
“Okay, you have what you want. Now let us go.” Tim said from behind Dick.
The man stuffed the wallet into his back pocket and grinned. “No.” Bruce felt a chill go down his spine. “What’s gonna stop you from calling the cops on me and getting me caught? You’ve already seen my face.” His dreadful laughter echoed on the alley walls. “No witnesses.”
Before Bruce knew what was happening, he was moving to shield Damian. He couldn’t let it happen again. He couldn’t let some damn mugger take his family away again. Although he knew that the gun was too close to Damian’s face to actually save him, he had to try. He couldn’t bury another family member, not one of his little boys.
Everything was a blur and Bruce could only hear what was happening around him. He heard Dick, Tim, and Damian shout. He heard a gunshot, and then he heard a cry of pain. He heard even more gunshots and someone taking a punch, but he couldn’t quite make out who it was or what was even happening. Then everything went silent and all he could hear was his own heartbeat and the adrenaline pumping blood to his head.
“Well that was not something I was expecting to do tonight.” Red Hood said sarcastically. “Stopping a mugging, sure, but stopping you all from being mugged? I thought you guys could handle yourselves. Honestly, I should have seen it coming since Alfred isn’t here to take care of your spoiled asses.” He laughed and, though no one could see it under his helmet, everyone knew he was grinning mockingly.
Bruce was finally able to take in his surroundings again. He looked up only to realize he was embracing Damian in a death grip on the ground with his back facing where the gun was. He glanced beside him and could see that Dick and Tim were slumped against the wall, not hurt, but looking like they were pushed there. Jason was standing behind him in his Red Hood outfit grabbing something from the mugger’s pocket. The mugger was unconscious on the ground with what looked like a bullet wound in his arm.
Red Hood noticed Bruce starring. “Don’t worry, it’s just a flesh wound. Plus, it’s a rubber bullet so it probably won’t do much damage anyways.” He said handing Bruce his wallet back. “It was the only way I could stop him from shooting the Demon Brat.”
“I’m not a demon Todd.” Damian growled, squirming in Bruce’s hold.
“Codenames.” Tim chided, getting up from where he was thrown against the wall.
Bruce was still trying to piece together what had just happened. It was slowly starting to come to mind. In a single move, he had pushed Tim and Dick as far away from danger as possible, which meant right into the wall, then tried to shield Damian from the gun with his own body. From the looks of it, Red Hood had seen this going on and shot the gunman in the arm before he could kill Damian. With that, the man opened fire on Red Hood, but if the now forming black eye on the man was anything to go by, Bruce would say that Jason had dodged the bullets and punched the man into unconsciousness.
Although he should have felt relieved that it was over, something didn’t feel quite right with Bruce. Not physically, but more like emotionally. Maybe it was because Damian was nearly killed, or that Dick and Tim were close to being next, or that Jason was shot at, he didn’t really know. He was never well in touch with his feelings and he couldn’t sort through them right now.
“Earth to Bruce. Are you going to take your wallet because my arm is getting tired holding it for you.” Jason mocked, arm still extended towards Bruce holding his wallet. “If you don’t want it I can keep it.”
“We don’t take ‘tips’ Hood.” Dick warned Jason and sighed, “But thanks for the save. That could have been real nasty.” He switched his attention towards Bruce who was still holding Damian on the ground. “Now move B, that was way too close and I need little D to give me a hug too.”
“Ugh. You’re so mushy Dick.” Tim said. “I don’t think ‘little D’ really wants to give you a hug though. Look at his face.”
“There is nothing wrong with my face Drake.” Damian pouted. If anything, his face looked like he wanted to punch somebody. “Father, release me so I can attack Drake."
But Bruce didn’t move. He didn’t even seem to hear any of them.
“Aw. It looks like B doesn’t wanna let up, Demon brat.” Jason laughed, but Dick knew something wasn’t right.
“Father…please let go?” Damian tried, but Bruce still didn’t move.
“Bruce?” Dick asked concerned, moving closer. This was bad now. “Are you okay?”
Bruce didn’t respond.
“Something’s wrong.” Tim stated. “He didn’t take any bullets but he isn’t answering us.” He paused. “He’s not in shock, is he? We’ve gone up against worse so why is he acting like this?”
“I think he’s getting flashbacks, Babybird.” Dick said.
“You mean of that night? With his parents?” Jason replied in astonishment. He had never imagined Bruce being afraid like this. It scared him.
“Yeah.” Dick answered. “We need to get him back to the Manor. Hood, help me get him off Dami. Tim,” Dick grabbed the car keys out of Bruce’s pocket and handed it to his brother, “Get the car and drive it as close as you can over here so we don’t have to walk so far. I don’t want anyone to see us and get any ideas of mugging us again, especially with one of us down. Dami, just sit tight. I think Bruce might need you to keep him calm. We’re gonna try to get him to let go, but just stay by his side so he doesn’t freak out on us. Everyone understand?”
“Yup.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
With that, everyone started moving and followed Dick’s orders. Him and Jason tried to talk Bruce into getting up, but that only made him clutch on harder to Damian, like if he let go, Damian would disappear. After about 10 minutes of urging Bruce to get up, they gave up and had to drag him. Damian held his hand just as security so that Bruce knew he was still there. Tim was waiting just a few feet away from the alley with the car.
“Hood, I think you and Batgirl are going to be the only ones patrolling tonight.” Dick said to Jason as he entered the car. “I might need the other’s help taking care of Bruce. I’ll meet you back at the Manor.” He paused. “Don’t ditch. I know you don’t like going there often but Bruce…we need you there.” Dick flashed a very earnest gaze at his younger brother.
“Sure, Dickface. Just stop making those puppy dog eyes at me. It makes me want to puke.” Jason climbed up on of the fire escapes in the alleyway and disappeared over the roof.
Dick started the car and drove home. Despite focusing on the road, he didn’t miss the look on his brothers’ faces. Tim, Jason, and Damian were just as shocked as he was that Bruce was scared of something. The fearsome, fearless, Batman was scared of a mugger. Dick thought that it terrified them just as much as it terrified him.
***
Bruce woke up in his bedroom. He didn’t remember going on patrol or heading to his room last night. In fact, he didn’t even remember driving home last night. The last thing he remembered was leaving the theatre. He slowly began to recall what had happened.
They were leaving the theatre, Tim and Damian were racing to the car, they went down an alleyway, and there was a man with a gun. Oh god. Bruce thought. Oh god the mugger. He could see it clearly now. The gun was right in front of Damian’s face and Dick and Tim were beside him and somehow Jason was there even though he didn’t come with them to watch the movie and he was going to loose his family all over again just like that night with his parents and he couldn’t breathe again.
Bruce sprinted out of his room calling for his boys. He went straight towards Dick’s room. It was the closest. He nearly knocked down the door trying to get in.
There was no one there.
He went into Tim’s, Jason’s, and Damian’s rooms. Just like Dick’s, they were empty.
No. No no no. Bruce thought to himself. I couldn’t have failed them. They can’t be dead. They can’t be dead. They aren’t dead.
He was already racing towards the Batcave when the smell of smoke hit his nose. There were people yelling in the kitchen. He didn’t want any false hope, but he was silently praying it was them.
He felt he was running faster than Flash when he turned the corner and bumped into someone.
“Woah Bruce! Stop!” Jason said regaining his balance and steadying the plate in his hand. “I could’ve dropped my croissant. It’s the only food left in the house that Goldie hasn’t burnt yet. Him, the Replacement, and the Replacement’s replacement are trying to put out the fire in the kitchen and I don’t want to share my bread with th—what are you doing?”
Bruce grabbed Jason’s arms tightly before he could even finish his sentence, pinning Jason in his place. He looked him up and down checking for bullet holes. He could’ve sworn the mugger shot at Jason, though he wasn’t quite sure how that would be possible since Jason wasn’t even with them to begin with.
“Um, Bruce, you okay? I know you usually don’t say much about your own well being, but you’re kinda scaring me.” Jason squirmed in Bruce’s hold, staring at Bruce in disbelief. “Guys! Dick! Bruce is awake and freaking me out!” Jason yelled towards the kitchen. “He’s not letting me eat my croissant!”
“Todd! That is the only edible piece of food left in the Manor,” Damian shouted as he barged in, “I demand you give it to me.”
Bruce stared at Damian for a very long 10 seconds before letting go of Jason and kneeling down to check Damian for bullet holes. He still couldn’t remember what happened last night with the mugger but he knew it ended in shots being fired.
He rubbed his fingers against the part of Damian’s face where the gun was pointed and was pleased to see the lack of holes, wounds, and scars in the area. Damian, on the other hand, was gradually growing angrier and angrier that his Father was blocking his way to Jason.
“Father, command Todd to surrender his food to me.” Damian demanded. “There is no more food left and thus I think it proper that I should have the bread. I am the youngest and need the most sustenance to grow.”
Bruce didn’t move, still checking to make sure Damian was fine. Jason glared right into Damian’s eyes and took a bite out of the croissant.
“Damnit Todd!” Damian hissed. “Grayson! Grayson! Father is awake and Todd has eaten the last piece of food!”
Dick scrambled into the hallway where Jason, Damian, and Bruce were. He was wearing a “Kiss The Chef” apron that was burnt a bit on the edges. He smelled like burnt bacon.
“Why is everyone calling me?” Dick looked around and saw Bruce. “Oh Bruce you’re awake! Are you feeling okay? You froze up last night.”
Bruce was staring at Dick and did another inspection for bullet holes like he did for Jason and Damian. Dick didn’t squirm when Bruce grabbed his arms to keep him in place, but he did eye Bruce with concern.
“Bruce, I’m fine. We’re all fine. The only person who isn’t fine is you.” Dick said as Bruce took note of his son’s condition. “If you’re wondering about the burns, we were trying to make bacon and accidentally set it on fire. Its fine though, Tim’s putting it out.”
At the mention of Tim’s name, Bruce got up and headed to the kitchen without a word. He strode in purposefully and went straight towards Tim, who looked embarrassed to be holding a fire extinguisher to the stove.
“I swear it was Dick’s fault.” Tim said quickly. “I was supposed to be waiting for you to wake up, but Dick set the kitchen on fire and needed help figuring out the fire extinguisher.”
“Its fine,” was all Bruce said as he looked Tim over to make sure he didn’t have any bullet holes.
“Um, are you fine?” Tim asked as Damian, Jason, and Dick walked into the kitchen. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
“B, maybe you should sit down for a second.” Dick said cautiously.
“No, I’m fine.” Bruce replied quickly and went towards the stove. “Was that the last of the bacon?”
The boys shared a concerned look with each other. “Yeah, sorry. I’m not really good at cooking.” Dick paused. “Bruce, do you wanna talk about last night? You just stopped and we were worried about you.”
“No. It was nothing.” Bruce answered. He never liked talking about his insecurities. “We need breakfast. Just order delivery. Use my credit card. Nothing too unhealthy.” With that, Bruce left and went into the Batcave.
Once he was gone, the boys were left awkwardly standing in the burnt kitchen. “Should we be worried about that?” Jason questioned.
“Bruce never likes to talk about feelings Little Wing. Never has, and I doubt he ever will.”
***
Down in the cave, Bruce was starring at his Batman suit. He didn’t get to go on patrol last night because of the…incident, and wondered what action he had missed out on.
He thought about patrol, and being the Batman, how he became Batman to stop incidents, like the one that took his parents, from ever happening to anyone. He thought about all those nights of fighting crime to make Gotham safe, how he did make a difference in the city.
And then, he thought about how he almost lost his family despite it all.
It made him sick, but it also made him angry. Not at his sons or the mugger, but at himself for not being better. He was the Batman, the goddamn Batman, he shouldn’t have panicked at something as simple as a mugging. He should have done better.
Bruce went to the computer and opened a file he kept secret from the rest of the family. In it were pictures of his kids. Internally, he vowed to protect them. He couldn’t handle losing them. They were everything to him.
No damn mugger will every take any of you away. I promise.