Chapter Text
There was something wrong with Bruce Wayne—granted, there’s probably been something wrong with him since his parents were murdered—but it was glaringly obvious that he was faking it. As much as Oliver enjoyed the chaos his old friend brought to the table when they were younger, it was obvious that much of it was faked. It became even more blatant when he took Dick in. With the addition of a young boy, a different side of Bruce came out. Somebody serious, protective, secretive, and nothing like the notorious Brucie Wayne. And sure having a kid might make a person more serious, but that much of a personality change? Nah. That was only possible if you were faking it from the beginning. Which brought up the question: Why fake it?
“Are you still thinking about him?” Dinah walks into the bedroom jolting Oliver from his thoughts.
“Him who?”
“Bruce.” Dinah responds, getting under the covers and snuggling up next to him.
“Well…”
“Ollie…”
“Okay fine.. Yeah.. yeah I am…” Oliver sighs, putting his arm around her.
“You know you could just ask him about it.” Dinah offers,
“I can’t just randomly show up at his house and say ‘Hey Bruce! I know we’ve known each other since your parents were still alive, but I think something’s been wrong ever since they got killed and you’ve been faking your entire personality since then’.”
“I thought you said he’s gotten better with the personality-faking thing?” Dinah questions,
“Yeah he has. Clearly ‘Brucie Wayne’ wasn’t Bruce at all.”
“But you already knew that.”
“I always assumed that ‘Brucie’ was his coping mechanism for the murders. But then Dick came into the picture and the whole thing got distorted again. And now with all the other kids it’s so painfully obvious that he’s different than he used to be.” Oliver says,
“Well maybe he’s finally healing…”
“Dinah, the man adopts kids at the same rate Flash eats.” Oliver deadpans, his wife giggles in response.
“Are you saying that his adoption problem is his coping mechanism?” Dinah asks playfully.
“I think he’s hiding something.”
“You say that every time Oliver.”
“Because it’s true! Remember what happened with Jason?”
“Exactly! The thing with Jason already happened!” Dinah sighs, “You already figured that out! What else is left?”
“Dinah think for a minute. If Bruce could hide the fact that his dead son CAME BACK TO LIFE. Then he can hide anything!” Oliver exclaims,
“Just because he can hide stuff doesn’t mean that he is.” Dinah counters, “Plus, if there really was something else wouldn’t he have told you when you demanded answers about Jason?”
“Yeah… I guess.” Oliver trails off, Jason’s resurrection was a Wayne secret he had become privy to a couple years ago.
Oliver had been there in that first year after Jason died. It wasn’t pretty. Bruce had drank more than he had when they were young. Years went by, Bruce got more kids. Then at some point in time Oliver started noticing the young man. He was tall, easily Bruce’s height, with teal eyes and a white streak of hair at the top of his head.The young man looked nothing like Jason Todd, the scrawny, tiny kid Bruce had taken in all those years ago. Beyond that, Jason was dead. Oliver had gone to his funeral.
But then Oliver saw the young man again. And again. And again. And again. The more Oliver saw him the more positive he became. The young man was the dead son. So one fateful day Oliver went to Bruce and demanded answers. Bruce’s face had hardened. The young man had burst into the room. The truth came out. Jason Todd had died at the hands of the Joker, and he had been resurrected by Talia al Ghul as a way to win back Bruce’s affections.
Ever since that day Oliver struggled to take Bruce at his word. There was something clearly wrong with Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen already had a theory on what it was.
“I still don’t get it. Batman and Green Lantern were fighting for over a year! They literally beat each other’s butts! How are they suddenly friends?” Flash frowns, the two of them were in the Quiver hanging out while they waited for the test results to come in from STAR Labs.
“Beats me… why don’t you ask Lantern?” Oliver replies, he was tired of this conversation. As curious as he was, he was also sick of it. A year ago Green Lantern and Batman were at each other's throats. Then Nightwing went on national tv and declared himself Green Lantern’s son. Later Deathstroke came and Nightwing disappeared for ½ a year. Batman fought Green Lantern and then the next time they were seen together they were drinking coffee and talking in the Founder’s lounge.
“I HAVE asked him! I’ve asked him so many fucking times in the past couple of months but he isn’t saying anything!” Flash scowls,
“Then maybe there’s just nothing to say.” Ollie shrugs,
“Oh bull. He’s my best friend. I know something’s up. He’s hiding something and he won’t tell me jackshit.” Barry grumbles, Now doesn’t that sound familiar….
“Look Flash. I don’t know what’s going on with Bats and Lantern. I’m just glad they’ve figured out that peace is an option.” Oliver replies,
“I just wish he would talk to me. It’s like he ditched me entirely for BATMAN of all people. Like no hate to Batman but he’s BORING. Unless his secret identity is interesting, I don’t get why the hell Lantern is suddenly always hanging out with him.” Barry frowns, the last part of his sentence sticks out like a flashing neon sign.
“Secret Identity? What does that have anything to do with Lantern?” Oliver asks curiously.
“Well think about it. Batman is as boring as a sack of rocks. But the person behind the mask? We don’t know anything about him. Even if Lantern gets bored of Batman, if the person behind the mask is interesting then why wouldn’t he want to talk to him?” It takes a minute for Oliver to absorb what Flash had just said.
“Wait.. are you… are you saying that Lantern knows who Batman is?” Oliver’s voice is colored in disbelief.
“Dude. That’s what I just said. Whatever shit went down before has something to do with Batman’s secret identity. Think about it. Why ELSE would they suddenly be so close? Why ELSE do you think Green Lantern goes to the Batcave more often?”
“Wait. Batcave? How do you know about that?” Oliver squints at him suspiciously.
“Because whenever I’m on monitor duty I check the systems.” Flash responds not even remotely embarrassed.
Oliver stays quiet, letting Flash talk as he considers the new tidbit of information. For some reason he finds his mind wandering back to Bruce. He had met Bruce more than a couple of times in the past 2 years while the whole Batman and Lantern shit was going on. Maybe it was just him connecting the wrong dots but he could have sworn that Bruce seemed more agitated than he usually did. Fuck why am I dragging Bruce into this thing with Lantern and Bats.
“..And you saw them fighting over Nightwing right? I wonder what Nightwing has to do with this. I KNOW for a fact that Nightwing isn’t Lantern’s kid. And I’m pretty sure that Nightwing was pissed at Batman before he disappeared, but it all seems a bit too connected to be a coincidence right? Nightwing’s pissed at Batman, then Lantern suddenly lies about Nightwing being his kid? All while Batman and Lantern are fighting? It’s all connected and I think the key is Batman’s identity. That’s the only thing that could—”
“You said that Nightwing was pissed with Batman right?” Oliver interrupts,
“Yeah it was pretty damn obvious actually.” Flash replies, “Why? Connect any dots?”
“No it’s just.. You reminded me that one of my friend’s had a fight with his oldest son a bit ago and I never asked him what happened..” Oliver trails off, the similarity was pretty striking. During the peak of the ‘Nightwing’s disappearance’ frenzy, Bruce had called Oliver on the phone sounding frantic.
“Oh is that the guy you think is hiding shit from you?” Flash asks,
“Yeah.. same guy…” Before either of them could say anything else the information came in. The topic dropped in favor of finishing their case. It wasn’t until much later, after Flash left, that Oliver had time to contemplate what they had discussed.
“You’re thinking too loudly.” Dinah walks into the living room placing a kiss on his forehead.
“I’m thinking of calling Bruce.”
“You should. It’ll help.”
“Hopefully…”
“You call him. I have some work to finish up anyway.” Dinah smiles and walks away. Oliver picks up his phone and hits the call button.
“Oliver? Everything okay?” Bruce answers on the first ring.
“Yeah of course. I just wanted to talk to you. You got a minute?” There was a moment of pause where Oliver could tell that Bruce had muted the call.
“I have some time. What did you want to talk about?” And okay. He wasn’t expecting to get this far. Bruce was notoriously busy. With what? Oliver had no clue, especially since Tim had taken over as the CEO of WE.
“I wanted to ask if you figured everything out with Dick.”
“Dick?” Bruce sounds so thoroughly thrown off that for a second Oliver thinks his memory was faulty.
“Yeah you and Dick were fighting a bit ago…”
“Oliver that was ½ a year ago.” Bruce deadpans, ½ a year… the exact time Nightwing was also missing.. Coincidence? Maybe… but…
“Yeah well you never pick up the goddamn phone and I wasn’t going to ask Roy about it.” Oliver drawls, Bruce laughs in response.
“Relax, I'm teasing you. I talked with Dick. We’re okay now.”
“Good… that’s great Bruce.” Oliver replies, there was silence.
“Was there anything else?” Bruce asks,
“No… that’s all. I’ll leave you to your work.” Oliver cuts the call before Bruce can respond and immediately runs to the Quiver.
“Queen? What are you…”
“ROY! Thank fuck. I need you to tell me something.”
“If it’s about the missing cheesecake that was KF.” Roy replies,
“Missing Cheesecake? What no. I don’t care about that.”
“Good because I know Aunt Dinah will, so just tell her that it was KF so that she doesn’t come for my ass.”
“Oh my god, fuck your cheesecake Roy! I need an answer.”
“Well maybe if you asked the question first I’d be able to give you one.” Roy deadpans,
“Was Jason complaining about Bruce and Dick a couple months ago?” Oliver asks,
“Uh like… about each of them or…?”
“Roy. Was Jason complaining about Dick and Bruce fighting each other?” Oliver clarifies,
“Yeah.. but that was like ½ a year ago.. Where the hell have you been?” Roy scrunches up his face in confusion. So Dick and Bruce were fighting at the same time Nightwing was pissed at Batman. But that still doesn’t mean anything…or does it..… Fuck.
“Wait Roy come back!” Oliver grabs Roy’s arm before the younger can leave.
“OW WHAT?!”
“Do you ever remember Red Hood telling you when he died and got resurrected?” Oliver demands,
“Uh yeah.. But what does this?”
“Roy, this is important. Seriously. When did Red Hood die, and when was he resurrected?” Oliver asks earnestly. There’s flickers of suspicion on Roy's face.
“He died when he was like… 15 and came back like.. 2 or 3 years ago I think… I can’t remember now..” Roy replies uncertainly. 15. The same age Jason was when he died.. Holy fuck. While Oliver’s mind reels, Roy takes that as his escape.
2 days later...
“I’VE CONNECTED THE DOTS!”
“Eat your pancakes Ollie, you look like you just got thrown into a dryer on a spin cycle.” Dinah sighs,
“No Dinah, I'm serious. I figured it out!”
“Figured out what? Bruce's secret or why Lantern and Batman are suddenly best friends.” Dinah asks, knowing that Oliver wasn't going to eat until he spilled out everything he had allegedly found out.
“Both! Flash was right! They’re connected! Batman and Lantern are suddenly best friends BECAUSE Lantern found out Batman's identity!” Oliver exclaims,
“Okay well Flash already theorized that. What does this have to do with Bruce?” Dinah asks,
“It has everything to do with Bruce! Because Bruce is Batman!” The coffee that Dinah was pouring spills on her hands, swearing, she grabs paper towels and runs her burned hand through cold water. Once her hand isn’t on fire she turns back to her husband who was now wolfing down his breakfast.
“Can you run that by me again? Why on EARTH do you think Bruce is Batman?”
“Because Jason Todd and Red Hood both died at 15 and came back about 2 or 3 years ago aged up.” Oliver replies through a bite of waffles.
“That… that’s actually a good point…” Dinah replies thoughtfully.
“And.. And!! I finally figured out why Bruce did that stupid ass Brucie thing when we were younger. To cover up the fact that he’s Batman! Think about it! Who in their right mind would think that a consistently drunk party guy was Batman? Nobody! It’s ingenious!” Oliver exclaims,
“It would also explain how Batman can afford all of those fancy gadgets and vehicles. Because Bruce uses his shit ton of money for it…” Dinah sits down and bites into her waffle.
“Not to mention their voices are literally identical. I was listening to some recordings of Batman and Bruce and it’s literally the same voice. Here listen.” Oliver pulls up something on his phone and plays 2 recordings. 1 of Batman, 1 of Bruce.
“Holy fuck…. it is the same voice.” Dinah mutters,
“And if that’s not enough proof for you I counted the kids.”
“You counted the kids?”
“Yeah! Batman and Bruce have the same number of kids! Batman has 2 Reds, Robin, Spoiler and Black Bat. Bruce has Jason, Tim, Steph, Cass, and Damien.”
“You forgot Dick.” Dinah accuses,
“You really think that Dick would get dragged into crime fighting at night like that?” Oliver counters, “Plus maybe Bruce wanted to keep Dick out of the loop because he wanted to give him a normal life. Think about it, once Dick turned 18, Bruce more or less kicked him out.”
“Kicking someone out isn’t the same as giving them a chance at a normal life, Ollie.” Dinah replies dryly. “Dick was devastated. Bruce could have kept him at home and still let him live normally.”
“How though? Batman consumes so much of Bruce’s fucking time. Sooner or later Dick would of figured out that Bruce doesn’t spend his evenings at WE. Plus Bruce adores Dick! Before Jason and the others, Dick was his only child! Why else would Bruce send him away if he wasn’t worried that Dick would find out his secret?”
“Then how do you explain Jason, Tim and the others being allowed onto the streets?” Dinah counters,
“Well Jason was a street kid. Maybe he discovered the Batcave or whatever once he was taken in, and he wanted to try and help other kids like him who weren’t lucky enough to get picked up by a billionaire.” Oliver replies, “Then the rest of the story is the truth. Red Hood died as Robin, then Tim replaced him and so on. Also if you want more proof I did some digging and found out that Damien’s biological mother is Talia al Ghul.”
“Isn’t she part of the League of Assassins?”
“Yeah she is! And I highly doubt there’s a bunch of Talia al Ghuls running around that Bruce has slept with AND are part of the League of Assassins.” Oliver exclaims, there was a long pause while Dinah contemplated the argument.
“You know I think you have some solid evidence Ollie. But now what? Are you gonna tell them that you know?” Dinah asks,
“I'm not entirely sure.” Oliver responds, standing up to throw his dishes in the sink.
“Are you gonna talk to Bruce?”
“No.”
“Batman?”
“They’re the same person Dinah.” Oliver dismisses,
“Okay then what are you gonna do?” Dinah asks exasperatedly.
Oliver thinks for a minute. “I'm going to have a chat with Green Lantern.”
“Lantern?” Dinah frowns,
“Yes. Lantern. He's close with Batman, Bruce, these days.” Oliver says thoughtfully as he leaves the room.
“I don't like this…” Dinah mutters,
“It'll be fine Dinah.” Oliver dismisses,
“DON’T BLAME ME WHEN THIS BLOWS UP IN YOUR FACE OLIVER!” Dinah yells,
“WOULDN’T DREAM OF IT DARLING!” Oliver calls back.
“Idiot.” Dinah chuckles fondly.