Chapter Text
Martha hadn’t wanted to stay in Gotham after her third miscarriage.
Determined to help his wife recover from her grief, Thomas arranged for a six month tour of the world, starting with Europe, crossing the length of Africa, over to Asia, through the Pacific, zig-zagging around South America, and finally back up into the States. They explored all sorts of museums and historical sites, dined on every sort of available cuisine, purchased numerous art pieces from local creators, and in general had nothing short of a fantastic time.
As the couple got closer and closer to their home city, however, Martha began to become withdrawn again, and Thomas felt at a loss even as he did his best to comfort and distract her. From time to time he shot beseeching looks to his butler and longtime friend, Alfred Pennyworth, but the other man could only gaze back sadly before offering Martha a warm cup of tea.
Finally, their trip came to an end, and the young Waynes slipped back into Gotham under the cover of darkness, unwilling to face the media or any of their acquaintances just yet. As Alfred drove them up the hill to Wayne Manor, however, something in the sky above caught Martha’s attention.
“Darling, do you see that?” She asked. Thomas leaned over to look out the window as well, and frowned when he, too, spotted what appeared to be a shooting star, getting bigger and brighter with each moment.
Before he could offer a comment, though, the object actually passed over them, causing the car to shake and startling Alfred into hitting the brakes. They all stared through the windshield in shock as the source of burning light came down in the woods behind the Manor, briefly illuminating the building itself.
“...Alfred,” Thomas breathed. “Get us up there, quickly.”
“Are you certain that’s a good idea, sir? It may not be safe-”
“Come on, man, a meteor just landed in my backyard! Let’s go see it up close!”
“Please, Alfred,” Martha added. Sighing, the butler eased his foot back onto the gas pedal. Soon, they arrived at the garage entrance, and both Thomas and Martha hurried out of the car, Alfred a step behind them.
“It must be huge, to have caused such a shockwave as it went by,” Thomas exclaimed in excitement as he hurried across the lawn. “Do you think it’ll count as ours, since it landed here, or will the government swoop in?”
“You wouldn’t deny some poor NASA scientists the chance to look over a meteor, Thomas,” his wife admonished.
“Well, no, but I’d still like to keep it if we can - imagine, an actual space rock on display in our front hall!”
“Perhaps not the front hall, but- oh! Oh my goodness...” Both Waynes came to a sudden halt at the edge of the impact crater, staring down at what most definitely was not a hunk of space rock.
Sleek, elegant fins were rapidly cooling in the night air, the golden-white glow of extreme heat fading into a reflective black sheen. Smoke billowed from a split in one of the thrusters, but the main portion of the little spaceship seemed perfectly intact.
Alfred skidded to a stop beside them, and even his usually unflappable demeanor was taken aback at the sight. “What in Heaven’s name-?”
Thomas started to open his mouth to reply, but gaped silently instead when a muffled cry suddenly came from the ship. A baby’s cry.
Martha was halfway down the slope before he could so much as shout with alarm.
“I can’t believe you,” Thomas muttered, pacing back and forth in front of the bed. Martha merely watched with a raised eyebrow. Her hands, smeared with burn ointment and wrapped in bandages, were nonetheless carefully curled around the tiny baby she’d pulled out of the spaceship. Somehow, the little guy looked completely human, and Thomas wasn’t sure if he should be more concerned by that, or how quickly his wife had insisted that they keep him. “This is insane, Martha!”
“Just look at him, Thomas,” she said. “He can’t be more than a few days old - handing him over to some government-run facility would be a death sentence!”
“You don’t know that-”
“He came to us,” Martha stated. “We’ve been out of the public eye long enough to claim he’s ours, and we can hide the ship in those old caves under the house; we have to protect him, Thomas.”
The man finally stopped his pacing at that, to stare at his wife in bewilderment. “Why are you so adamant about this?”
It took her a moment to come up with a reply. “When I tried to open the hatch, there was- it was like something reached out to me, and connected. Just for a moment. But it saw me, who I am, and only then did the locks open, so I could reach in and get him.” Martha stroked a gauze-wrapped finger across the baby’s cheek. He nuzzled closer to her touch, eliciting a smile from the woman. “Whoever made that ship and put him in it, Thomas, they wanted, needed, to make sure only someone who would look after their baby could take him out of it.” She looked up at him again, eyes fierce. “And I am not going to make them regret giving him to me.”
Thomas sighed.
And then he moved to the side of the bed, his own hand coming up to gently touch the baby’s scalp, already covered in a fine, dark fuzz. The new touch prompted him to blink open his eyes, and when Thomas met that tiny blue gaze, he melted.
“To us,” he murmured. Martha immediately beamed.
And by the door, Alfred coughed.
Once the Waynes both looked at him, the man spoke. “Should I assume we do not wish for anyone else to become privy to this secret, then?”
“That’s right, Alfred,” Thomas said, relieved and apologetic at the same time. “I’ll come help you move the ship - there’s a covered entrance down into the caves by the garden we can use, that should be big enough.”
“Very good, sir. And I shall hold off on summoning any of the main household staff back for a few days, to give the young sir time to settle.”
Thomas nodded, and glanced down at his wife again. “What are we going to call him, anyway?”
Martha, smiling as the baby curled his little fingers around a lock of her hair, didn’t even bother to look up as she replied, “Bruce. His name is Bruce.”
It goes like this
A warrior race of Amazons, blessed and empowered by their gods, hidden away on an island paradise as both penance and promise, safe from Man’s world but unable to assist their sisters on distant shores. The first of them in centuries to leave is hailed as a Woman of Wonder.
It goes like this
A dying planet sends away the last of her children, to another world where yellow sunlight gives them power beyond belief, and glowing green shards bring them to their knees. The first of them to leap tall buildings in a single bound is called the Man of Tomorrow.
It goes like this
Loving parents provide all that their son could ask for, secure in themselves and their lifestyle, until the night they walk into a dark alley, and the loss of two lives forever alters the path of a third. That third swears his life to the cause of protecting others, and becomes the Dark Knight.
...change the details. Mix and match. Now, it goes like this:
An austere businesswoman, disgusted by the men around her but unwilling to give up the powerful company she’s built, creates a private community of trust and assistance and love. Her daughter grows into a champion of justice, with tools and armor built by her own hands, to be hailed as the Woman of Tomorrow.
Now it goes like this
A hidden sect of Romans, blessed and empowered by their gods, bound by duty and tradition to watch over the birthplace of their former empire no matter that the rest of the world has moved on. The first of them in centuries to leave becomes hailed as the Man of Wonder.
Now it goes like this
A dying planet sends away the last of her children, to another world where the darkness gives them powers beyond explanation, and poisoned light strips them bare and bereft. The first of these children is found by loving parents, who provide all that their adopted son could ask for... until the night they walk into a dark alley, and destiny is set in motion once again for the Dark Knight.
It always, always, goes like this - the more things change, the more they stay the same.