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When Bruce Wayne is eight years old, his parents die. That’s where it starts for him.
When he’s seventeen, he leaves home. He leaves his… Alfred. He leaves Alfred. To travel the world.
When he is nineteen, he gets married. He knows that she’s done things he doesn’t agree with, and probably will again, and only has the barest grudging respect for her father, but he loves her. He really does.
When he’s nineteen, his wife tells him that she’s pregnant. They’re going to have a baby. He’s thrilled. Overjoyed. He’s going to start a family with her.
When he’s still nineteen, his wife miscarries. She loses their baby. He leaves. He’s been away from home for too long.
When he’s twenty, he becomes the guardian of his city. Her protector.
When Bruce Wayne is twenty two, he visits the circus. As he visits, so too does tragedy. There is one more orphan in the world that night. A month later, he is Bruce’s son.
Bruce Wayne is not supposed to have a son.
Richard Grayson and Bruce Wayne get along fairly fine, for the most part. They love each other, for the most part.
Bruce Wayne’s son wants to leave. Bruce Wayne does not know how to let go of him. He lashes out. He hits him. He hits his son. He lets go.
Then, there is Jason Todd. Jason Todd tries to steal the Batman’s tires. A month later, Bruce Wayne has another son. This one reminds him of his wife.
When Jason Todd is fifteen, he tracks down his biological mother. She is a doctor. Like Bruce wanted to be, a long time ago. That night, Jason Todd is brutally murdered by a psychotic clown obsessed with his father. With Bruce Wayne.
Bruce Wayne loses a son that night. It is not the first time.
A year passes. Timothy Drake thinks this is unacceptable. Batman needs a Robin. The second Robin is dead. The first won’t speak to Batman anymore, let alone fight alongside him. Timothy Drake knows that Batman needs a Robin. He does not think Bruce Wayne needs another son. He certainly does not want another father.
Bruce Wayne is alive. Jason Todd is not. Until he is.
Bruce Wayne’s son is alive. One of them. He is overjoyed.
Bruce Wayne’s son is a killer. Not for pay. For himself. For his empire.
Bruce Wayne’s son is building a criminal empire, and he wants his father dead.
A year passes. His son is still alive. Still killing. But he’s getting better. He’s helping people.
Bruce Wayne’s wife lied to him. Her father made her do it.
Bruce Wayne’s son is alive. His name is Damian. Bruce Wayne will do anything for Damian.
Bruce Wayne is dead.
His sons are orphans, all over again.