Chapter Text
A small child ran round and round his tired father. This was something—he had quickly learned—was normal for this particular child to do; and his father, whatever mood he was in, always seemed amused.
This intrigued him greatly. Through all the universes, times, and histories, there had never been one person that did this on such a level as the small child; true though it was that humans were some of the most interesting creatures ever created.
He turned towards another open doorway to another universe far, far away. That universe was in a time of darkness, and this child, however small, was a beacon of light.
And so this made him wonder, could this child affect other timelines as he had his own? He looked back to the son and his father; there was only one way to find out.
With a deft wave of his hand and a calm step back, he opened another door; and watched as father and son fell through, to a timeline that was not their own.
He would watch, he would observe, he would intervene if things got out of hand. But the humans would only be able to return to their universe when he let them; they may be sentient, but they were powerless against him.
Through the black fog of what was his unconscious mind, Bruce could hear the steady hum of some sort of engine. He could sense no movement, he could sense no danger. What had happened? All he remembered was his son running around him in excited circles, then the floor fell out beneath them (though he did remember catching a quick glimpse of what looked like a door) and he lost consciousness.
Eventually, Bruce was able to open his eyes—only to find that he could barely see anything. And that wasn’t because it was dark, but rather because of the helmet he was wearing.
He groaned as he sat up from where he had apparently collapsed on the floor and took the terrible helmet off. “What in the blazes?” he grumbled as he looked around.
The room was small and filled with some sort of metal crates, the lights that came from panels on the walls was a dull white. Nowhere he’d ever been before, that’s for sure!
It took a moment for him to remember that he hadn’t been wearing a helmet before he’d fallen. He looked at the white helmet and turned it around to get a good look at the front. Only for his mouth to fall open in surprise. A stormtrooper helmet?! But he didn’t own a…
Then it clicked. The portal he’d fallen through had apparently moved him… somewhere. He’d find that out later; his main concern was finding out if his son had fallen through to portal as well. He called out to the child, “Dick? Dick, are you here?”
His response was a confused, “Daddy?” from somewhere in the room, “why am I in my stormtrooper armor?”
Bruce struggled to stand with the armor he’d somehow been put into, “I’m not entirely sure, chum, but I think we were somehow teleported through the space time continuum into the Star Wars universe. Now where are you?”
“I don’t know,” his son responded, not at all sounding concerned, but instead sounding excited, “do you really think we’re in the Star Wars universe!?”
“I can’t really think of any other reason as to why we are both in full armor; especially considering I don’t own a set.”
“You should!” Dick giggled as Bruce managed to lift him over the box he was stuck behind, “because then we could cosplay together!”
With a roll of his eye, Bruce set his son back on the ground, “No, I draw the line at you forcing me into the Jango Fett armor.”
Another giggle, then a delighted gasp, “I know where we are! I know where we are!”
Bruce wasn’t surprised at this, considering his child had a sizable collection back home that included background pieces and props for his Black Series action figures, “Hm, and how do you know that?”
“The lights on the wall,” Dick joyfully responded, “they’re used on Imperial Star Destroyers. And the writing on the boxes,” he pointed to one of the boxes, “it’s aurebesh, the written language of the Star Wars universe!”
Upon taking a closer look, Bruce saw the odd markings, “And you understand this?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Right,” Bruce picked his discarded stormtrooper helmet up, “now where exactly are we?”
“I think we’re on the Death Star.”
Bruce had to do a double take, “Are you positive?”
“Well that’s what the aurebesh on the box says.”
“But doesn’t the Death Star explode?”
“Yup.”
“Then let’s find a way off before it does,” Bruce said as he put his helmet on and looked for a way to open the door.
He heard Dick make a sound of disappointment, “You mean we’re not going to go exploring?”
Bruce shot his child a hard look, “Since when do you want to get blown up?!”
“Okay,” the boy pouted as he walked over to the door, palmed a panel to the side, and looked up at his father as the door hissed open, “are you sure we can’t explore, not even a little?”
After unsuccessfully suppressing a sigh, Bruce gave in, “Fine, but we’ll do so on the way out.” He started walking, but it didn’t take him long to realize he had no clue where he was going; he turned to look at his child (finding, in the process, that this blasted helmet made him have to lean over just to see his short son), “You wouldn’t happen to know your way around, would you?”
“No, but we could ask him,” Dick said as he pointed at somebody that was behind his father.
He turned to find another stormtrooper looking at them in confusion, “What are you two doing down here? I thought you were supposed to be on the bridge.”
“The bridge?” Bruce repeated in surprised confusion.
The trooper looked down a Dick, then back up a Bruce, “Didn’t you get the comms notification that called a stormtrooper and little stormtrooper to the bridge?”
“Er, no. I think our comm unit is malfunctioning.”
“Ah,” the trooper turned around, “they’re always doing that, but I can take you there. Come on, it’s hazardous for your health to keep Lord Vader waiting.”
Bruce stopped dead in his tracks, Dick gasped and ran to catch up to the stormtrooper, “Darth Vader really wants to see us?!”
“From what I heard,” the trooper responded, “so what’s your designation?”
“Uh, TK-2621.”
The stormtrooper grinned under his helmet, “Well it’s nice to meet you. I’m TK-1839,” he shot a suspicious look back at Bruce, “what’s wrong with the big guy?”
“He doesn’t really talk much.”
Bruce felt his lips turn into a hard frown, he’d let that one slide; after all, this was probably a dream come true for his son… and that was how he was with the members of the Justice League anyway.
Their walk to the bridge of the Death Star was long—at least for Bruce. He had to listen to his son and the stormtrooper talk geek stuff while he struggled to see where they were going (blast this helmet!); not to mention the fact that they were supposed to be seeing Darth Vader. Now while Bruce didn’t know much about the Star Wars universe his son loved so much (blast whoever got him into it), he knew enough to know this wouldn’t end well.
Once they were there, the tall, black costumed cyborg turned to them and said nothing. The black lenses of his helmet bored into Bruce and he walked closer. He stood directly in front of him and still said nothing. His gaze shifted down to Dick, then back to Bruce, “You are not from this galaxy,” said as a statement, not a question.
“Nope,” Dick happily cried as he bounced on his feet, “but it’s soooo cool to meet the real Darth Vader!”
Bruce internally winced as the helmet turned to look at his child.
“There are impersonators in your galaxy?”
“I wouldn’t say impsinators, uh, in-per-so-nat-ers?” under the helmet, Dick’s expression was growing frustrated, “impostors?” He shrugged and started bouncing again, “I wouldn’t say impostors, but more like people who think you’re so cool, they just want to be like you! Kinda like a fan club!”
At this point, Bruce was wishing that if his son could hold his tongue for just once in his life, now would be a great time.
“I see,” the tall villain bent a little lower, “and are you in such a group?”
“Uh-huh! There called the 501st; they’re a cosplaying group that loves going out in full suits of armor, it’s a lot of fun!”
The cyborg straightened, “The 501st? Interesting.” He turned and walked towards the front of the bridge, Dick followed close behind, Bruce reluctantly followed but stayed far enough back so if the cyborg decided to draw his laser sword, he’d be out of reach… at least for a second or two if the movies were as accurate as the real thing.
After a brief moment of silence, Vader reached to touch the top of the child’s helmet; apparently, Dick saw this as the Sith Lord welcoming him for a hug and the boy immediately latched onto the mechanical legs.
And the bridge went silent; nobody moved and the only noise came from the cyborg’s respirator as he breathed.
Finally (and unexpectedly for all those on the bridge), Vader lay his hand on top of the short boy’s helmet, “Your loyalty to the Empire is noted, and welcomed,” he paused and said a little quieter “yes, you will do quite well.”
Bruce found his voice, “What do you mean?”
“You’re child will be my new apprentice.”
Even though he was still latched onto the Sith’s legs, Dick was visibly excited, “But don’t I have to be Force sensitive for that?”
“Interesting,” Vader said thoughtfully, “quite interesting.”
“But you can’t do that!” Bruce protested, suddenly finding his bravery, “he’s my son and need I remind you we are from another,” he hesitated slightly, “galaxy.”
There was an added edge in the cyborg’s voice when he said, “I can do what I please.”
At the point Bruce was going to try and reason, he noticed Dick pull on Vader’s cape; then watched as the cyborg bent over as to listen to whatever the boy had to say. He stood and turned to Bruce, “My apprentice has proposed a solution that should satisfy you. And if it doesn’t” his hand settled on his lightsaber hilt, “there will be one other option I’m sure neither of you want. You can stay nearby and take care of the boy’s needs while I train him in the ways of the Force; or you will be permanently dispatched.”
What other choice did he have? “Fine,” Bruce bit out, “I will accept.”
“Very well,” the cyborg straightened, “TK-1839, show them to their quarters,” he looked down at Dick, “I will be expecting you tomorrow morning.”
“Okay!” the boy said happily as he trotted off after the stormtrooper.
Bruce followed a bit more stiffly; all he knew, is that once they were alone, he was going to have a serious conversation with his son.
In a few minutes, they were in a small room with two beds built into the walls. Bruce took the blasted stormtrooper helmet off, threw it on the uncomfortable looking bed, and whirled around to face his son, “What do you think you’re doing?!” He internally winced when the boy’s blue eyes widened, but he needed an answer, “Dick, you do know Darth Vader is a villain, right?!?”
“Well, I—I just thought…”
“He isn’t like your cosplayer friends,” Bruce snapped harsher than he should have, “he is dangerous. He is evil. He could literally kill both of us with a wave of his hand! Did you not see how he threatened to kill me?!”
“But,” Dick choked as his eyes started to water, “but there’s g-good in him. A-and…”
“No. Dick, no. That’s not how this works. This is reality, not fiction! Not to mention, if you go any farther with this, you could end up corrupting the timeline and could—in effect—destroy this entire universe. Is that really what you want to happen?!”
“N-no…”
All though Bruce wanted to say more, for once he could easily see that his child was literally another harsh word away from a complete meltdown. He struggled to sit down on the floor (the visor on the helmet wasn’t the only thing that was restrictive) and said in the softest tone he could manage, “Dickie, baby, I’m sorry. I,” he sighed, “I’m just really worried since we’re somewhere we’ve never been or…” it suddenly clicked, “was that what you were trying do? Make sure we were safe by getting on Vader’s good side?”
The boy nodded slowly but refused to meet Bruce’s eyes.
A few wet spots fell onto Dick’s chest plate and Bruce winced; he’d had the boy for five years and he still forgot how sensitive he was. He reached for his son, “I’m sorry. I-I really am. I know me being worried about your safety is no reason to for me to loose my temper and…”
His son had all ready crawled into his lap and was trying to get comfortable; the boy looked up at him;, the look in his innocent blue eyes trying to tell him to stop talking and comfort him.
Bruce chuckled softly and pressed a kiss onto his son’s forehead. He was so incredibly blessed to have this boy as his son. He just wished he could be a better father.
They sat in comfortable silence…until a loud knock startled both of them.
But luckily for them, another portal opened under them.
The extreme emotion he’d felt coming from the little Force sensitive stormtrooper was disturbing, and told Vader the bigger one couldn’t stay. But it was as he reached the door that he felt a stronger Force presence; so strong it must have been a Force entity.
With a wave of his hand he opened the door and could only watch as the two fell through a door shaped portal and all Force presences immediately disappeared.
Not only had he just lost his new apprentice, but a powerful Force entity as well.
The Emperor would never believe it.
As he manipulated time and space to his will—returning the father back to his time and moving the boy onto another—he considered all he had just seen. He hadn’t expected to boy to end up Force sensitive, nor had he expected the Sith would want to make the boy his apprentice. But it had happened.
He was curious, though, how else would this one child react to being put into times that were not his own, with people who were not his own? How would the people react to him? His original inquiry still posed yet again, but with a stronger desire to learn.
This was indeed something that would require much further observation.