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The manor was full that Thanksgiving as Bruce Wayne looked around the table. It still amazed him how so much had changed in his life. He had gone through so much tragedy but now had a purpose and many moments of joy. All these people here were his family and he knew that in the original timeline he had missed out on this till Barry Allen and Kara Zor El showed up. Thanks to the timelines merging and keeping the memories of both changed everything for him and why he still chose to protect Gotham City and the world.
Thanks to what Barry did the speedster's previous timeline merged with Bruce's. That meant Bruce was now the Bruce Wayne/Batman that Barry always knew. Bruce never gave up on crime fighting and helped to found the Justice League with Barry, Diana, Clark, Arthur, and Victor. Not only that but Bruce became their leader and head strategist. They were able to recruit new members too and expand all over the globe to keep Earth safe, and then expand again into the galaxies as more heroes came from other planets and with Barry being able to travel the multiverse.
Bruce loved Barry and Kara both. They felt like his children to him now. He even gave Kara a room she could stay in Wayne Manor for when she was in town and helped her land a job at the Gotham Gazette. She and Clark were able to finally reunite and to be cousins, so she spent a lot of time in Metropolis and at the Kent farm too. Meanwhile, Barry came to town often, as a lot of his cases would crossover with Bruce's both for Central City and for superhero things. Then as Barry and Iris got more serious in their relationship she also started coming along too and helped out as she had learned the truth about Barry's powers and them all. Bruce liked her a lot and fully approved of their relationship. The two of them did end up marrying so he knew Barry found the right one.
Then Barbara Gordon came into his life unexpectedly. He always knew her, as he was good friends with her father Jim the police commissioner. Plus, she was a childhood friend of his son Dick Grayson since Bruce took the boy in. Yes, he had a son he was estranged from, as well as another son Jason Todd who the second Joker had killed. Losing his boys was so hard on him but Barbara, Barry, and Kara understood. He tried to reach out to Dick but hadn't heard from him or seen him since he moved to Bludhaven.
But Barbara helped in many ways, especially after revealing she was Batgirl.
Bruce saw the new hero of Gotham emerge at the 2022 Christmas Gala. She impressed him with her ingenuity and ability to do all of this herself, even making her own suit. It wasn't until after taking down Firefly and Killer Moth that Batgirl revealed herself to Bruce as Barbara. Then it all made sense.
Years earlier Firefly had set a fire in the Gordon home that killed Barbara's mother and Jim's wife. Bruce and Dick had tried to save her but it was too late. He still remembered that funeral and how devastated little Barbara was, and Dick holding her hand during the service. So he fully understood why she was doing this as it was similar to why he became Batman.
Then he gifted Barbara with a new suit he made just for her and revealed his real identity to her. She was amazed and that she had known Batman, who she idolized all her life, all along. Then as a gift to Bruce in return she reached out to Dick and finally convinced him to come home for Chirstmas.
Seeing his eldest son again was the best surprise and both of them teared up as they finally hugged and made amends. They realized they never should have let their arguments drag out so long and Bruce apologized to Dick for everything. It went a long way and Dick started coming back to Gotham City more often to spend time with Bruce and help out more with the cases. Bruce was amazed at his son's new Nightwing persona and suit he made himself. It made him so proud to see one of his boys like this and the good he was doing.
If only Jason had been able to experience it too.
But unknown to them Jason had been brought back to life by the League of Assassins thanks to the Lazarus Pit. The experience had changed him not just physically with part of his hair turning white, but inside too as now he wanted revenge. There was only one way to stop these criminals for good to him now and that was to kill. Making his way back to Gotham City as an adult he took on a new persona as he wasn't Robin anymore. Now he was Red Hood.
Bruce and the rest of his family didn't know what to do about Red Hood. He was helping the city but it was never ok to kill. It went against everything Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and the Justice League stood for. So they went after him and finally collided in a big fight with the heroes. After they tied him up Batgirl unmasked him and they were all shocked to find Jason not only alive but cruelly laughing at them for not realizing who he was.
They had never in a million years figured Jason would come back but to come back this way. He had gone full vigilante but there had to be a way to get him to realize what he'd done by killing those criminals was wrong. It took some time and more battles not only with each other but with other criminals and the LOA to get Jason to realize it and that he needed his family more than revenge.
Once they did Bruce thought his family was complete. Both his boys were back. Dick and Barbara became a couple and adopted a dog Hayley. Barry and Iris married. Kara accepted a job out on the West Coast at CatCo magazine in National City but still visited often. Jason was doing better, and Bruce adopted a dog himself, Ace, a former police dog that needed a new home after his owner sadly died.
But then another unexpected shock came.
During a confrontation with Amanda Waller after a disastrous event with the Justice League, Clark and Bruce were able to get her to reveal a long held secret. Twenty years earlier she had taken a sample of Bruce's DNA and with her team's technology injected it into Warren McGinnis. The man's own DNA was overrode with Bruce's and Warren and his wife Mary had two sons: Terrance/Terry and Matthew/Matt. It was part of Project Cadmus to create new versions of the Justice League members and it already worked with Clark and Lex to create Connor/Superboy.
Clark helped Bruce to find the two boys and Bruce was stunned to see their pictures. Terry looked so much like his own father Thomas Wayne, while Matt looked identical to when Bruce was his age with the same blue eyes he got from his mother Martha. How could Amanda and her team have done this? These boys lost the father that raised them tragically just like Bruce did with his parents but they still had their mother. Bruce also lost out on getting raise his children from birth too. Of course he had all his other adoptive children who he loved but to have had them since they were born and watch them grow up would've been amazing.
After consulting with his older children and Clark he decided to seek Terry out. He was involved with one of Gotham's gangs and with some help they could turn his life around. Terry was reluctant at first but eventually came around once he realized it was Bruce Wayne that wanted to help him, his little brother, and mother. He would become Bruce's personal assistant and help out with Dick and Jason at the company, but also they revealed who they really were as Gotham's heroes too.
Terry was shocked but something in him agreed that he wanted to help Gotham City for the same reasons, so he started to train. He took to martial arts easily and his detective skills impressed them all. By this point too Barbara had decided to switch from being Batgirl to Oracle, her online persona, and to help them all with her expert computer skills. In her place she gave the mantle of Batgirl to one of her Birds of Prey members Cassandra Cain.
Bruce then gifted Terry with his own Batsuit. One that was black and red.
"I'm going to be Batman?" Terry asked shocked realizing the symbol was the bat.
"It's time I took more of a backseat." Bruce replied with a smile.
Then with the new Batman, he protected the city alongside Nightwing, Oracle, Batgirl, and Red Hood. Then The Flash and Supergirl helped when they could. They also all helped out on Justice League missions as well. Then Matt wanted to help too as he got into high school and learned the truth. Terry and Bruce were reluctant but eventually let him as Dick was even younger when he became Robin. So now all Bruce's children were saving Gotham with his guidance.
Eventually he did reveal to Terry and Matt the full truth of their relationship. He didn't want to replace their father as Warren was still their dad, but he was here for them too. It was a shock for the boys but they accepted it. They had three parents and a large amount of siblings now too.
Then more joy came as Barry and Iris had a daughter Nora. Dick and Barbara married and had a son Johnny. Bruce loved being a grandfather and seeing his children become parents and find love. It was something that also came to him differently and later in life. He felt grateful again as he looked around the table at all his loved ones.
That was when his other love came out of the kitchen with the turkey. "Time for the carving!"
"Thank you Selina." Bruce said giving her a quick kiss after she sat the bird down in front of him.
Through out all of this Selina came back into his life, a couple of cats in toe. She had been off doing her own adventures but always said she'd come back to him. They had a long journey to get here but it was finally their time and she loved having all these step-children and grandchildren too.
Alfred always told Bruce he'd eventually get here. Somehow that man knew that Bruce would find happiness and create his own family again. He sent up a silent thanks to his guardian for being right and hoped he was happy where he was alongside his parents watching over them.