One of my favorite tropes that I donât see very often in fics is the Batfam & the JL seeing Bruceâs past and getting a glimpse of why he is the way that he is.
Iâve thought this out quite a lot so just hear me out. Iâm gonna write out this hc and itâll be long and sad but I think itâs worth it.
Keep in mind this is still my hc so âGood Dad Bruce Wayneâ, âBatfam Love Bruceâ, âSuperbatâ, all that good stuff but I digressâŠ
Itâs not completed because it got extremely long but if someone wanted to take this as a guide for a fic plz be my guest just tag me and give credits âĄÌ
So I think it would start out with everyone giving Bruce shit for different things that heâs done. Nothing to crazy but everyoneâs just annoyed and kinda tired of dealing with him. And he feels that, he doesnât let it show that it hurts him because heâs Bruce but itâs wearing him down.
In his head heâs saying all the things that needs to be said.. But itâs always stuck on the end of his tongue, so he tries to show it through his actions.
During a battle with the JL he ends up taking a hit for Clark, because thereâs a magic user; and it knocks him out cold.
They wrap up the battle and take him back to the med bay, and physically heâs fine.. but heâs not waking up.
Eventually the Batfam comes up to the Watch Tower because the hit of magic messed with Bruceâs sensors in the suit. So they think somethingâs wrong.
But they come to realize that heâs okay but just like the rest of the JL, they donât understand why heâs not waking up so they decided to leave him in the Watch Tower for the time being. Everybody stays because even though heâs physically fine. Theyâre worried as to why heâs not awake yet.
A little bit of time goes by and Clark is sitting with Bruce and a white flash comes out of nowhere. Startling Clark as he yells out causing everyone to come see whatâs wrong. The white keeps flashing until they find themselves to be in a room thatâs just white. Thereâs no walls, no ceiling, no doors, itâs just nothing. All of them are just standing there along with Bruce whoâs still unconscious on the bed he was laid in.
They all start trying to figure out what just happened but no one can come up with anything and then they hear⊠laughter? A childâs laughter?
They all turn and thereâs an image playing almost like itâs being projected but nothingâs playing it. Itâs just appeared. As they pay attention to whatâs being shown to them and who the child is laughing. They hear two other voices calling the name of the child⊠âBruceâ
They all turn to Bruce still laying in the bed, out cold and unmoving. As they turn back to the video playing they see a happy, care free Bruce playing with what they come to realize is Thomas and Martha Wayne..
It goes through many of the happy memories that Bruce has with them. They get to see Bruce with a full gleaming smile on his face. They see Martha, Thomas and a Young Alfred love and dote on Bruce. They watch as Bruce attends a gala he does not want to be at.
Hiding behind his father with misty eyes, and Thomas picks him up to console him.
They see Bruce helping Martha and Alfred in the gardens rose bushes, and he pricks himself on a thorn and Martha kisses his finger all better.
They hear all the affectionate names all three of them call Bruce spanning from, âBabe, Bunny, My love, Chum, Darling and etc.â The kids all turn to look at there father knowing where some of there endearments come from.
Diana comments on how adorable Bruce was as a child. Everyone is enjoying themselves watching Bruceâs memories and getting to see a Bruce theyâve never seen before, and Hal makes the joke.. âHe was so sweet, what happened to him.â
Theres some laughter, but the ones who know Bruce just look at each other, and the next memory starts.
They see Bruce, Thomas, and Martha walking home from the theater. The kids and Clark freeze instantly. They know what this is, whatâs about to happen. The rest of the JL see them tense, looking at them questioningly, but not asking anything.
They watch as the three walk down an alley and hear a gun cock behind them. They turn and thereâs a man pointing a gun at them, telling Martha to give him her pearls.
Nobodyâs moving at this point as they understand whatâs about to happen.
They hear Martha asking the man to take anything but the pearls, and they see Thomas going toward the man and getting shot in the head.
They hear both Bruce and Martha scream. They see Martha moved toward Thomas and getting shot as well. They see Marthaâs blood splatter on Bruceâs face.
They watch the man reached down and yank Marthaâs pearls off her dead body, the pearls falling to the ground. They see Bruce, staring at his parents bodies and blood everywhere.
They watched as Bruce moved towards his parents, trying to get them to wake up but theyâre unmoving. They see Bruce just sitting in their collective puddle of blood holding both of their hands, with eyes that were just so full of light completely dead with nothing behind them.
Nobody says anything, everybodyâs stock still. No words, no thoughts.. Completely in shock of what they just witnessed. Because theyâve all known that Bruce watched his parents die, but itâs different from knowing thatâs happened to him and watching it happen.
They watch as person after person walks by Bruce in that alley and doesnât help him. Until finally a patrol officer happens by him and calls it in. The cop doesnât try to move Bruce, doesnât even acknowledge him.
Even as more and more cops show up nobody tries to help Bruce. Until a young Jim Gordon arrives at the scene. Jim moves him and tries to talk to Bruce, but he doesnât respond as if he doesnât even hear him. His eyes are trained on one of his motherâs pearls.
They watch as Alfred arrives and holds Bruce close. They watch as Bruce still doesnât move, doesnât respond, doesnât cry, doesnât make a sound. Eyes still trained on his parents who are now in body bags.
They hear Alfred ask how long Bruce has been out here, and Jim reluctantly tells him that Thomas and Martha have been dead for hours, but itâs only been called in 30 minutes ago.
Everyoneâs horrified by how long it took for someone to get to Bruce.
The memory jumps to Alfred washing Marthaâs dried blood off his face. Bruce is still in the same state that he was at the crime scene. They hear Alfred ask Bruce question after question getting no response.
Until finally, Bruceâs eyes connect with Alfredâs; but they can no longer see the little boy that they saw merely minutes ago. Alfred asks Bruce another question but Bruce just looks down at his hands, caked in dried blood. He lifts them towards Alfred and asks
âAlfred.. Whose blood is this?â
No emotion behind his question, no life in his eyes. Alfred immediately starts crying and Bruce just stands there once again unresponsive.
The memory jumps again to Bruce laying in bed, Alfred trying to coax him to eat. âMaster Bruce itâs been four days. I need you to eat something, please.â and Bruce just looks at him, but not seeing him.
It jumps again to Bruce laying in his bed at night. Still motionless, no hint of cognizance behind his eyes. Alfred sitting on the edge of his bed looking so exhausted.. so worried.. And Bruce suddenly inhales so loud that it startles the man.
âMaster Bruce?â and that seems to finally get through to him. Bruce slowly turns his head towards the butler. Looking directly at Alfred he asks in a whisper, âAlfred?..â Theres a pause before Bruce speaks again
Alfred gasps and holds Bruceâs face âNo, Bruce. This is not your fault!â âYes it is. Iâm the one that wanted to leave the theater early, If we.. If we hadnât left they would be alive.â
Tears are forming in the butlers eyes. âListen to me Bruce. This is not and never will be your fault. Itâs that manâs fault, do you hear me!â
Bruce is looking into Alfredâs eyes and whispers.. âI wish he had killed me toâŠâ And after days of no emotions, Bruce starts sobbing. Finally letting go of everything thatâs been trapped for days.
Alfred clutches onto Bruce. Holding on to him. âNo, please god no. I canât lose him to. Please donât make me lose him to.â So low they could barely hear it.
The memory stops for a moment giving everyone a chance to look around. and every single person is in shock. Clark is crying. The kids are emotionless.
Nobody knows what to do. What to say. They all look back at the unconscious man still lying on the bed. Not knowing how to continue after watching all that.
Clark puts his hand on Bruceâs cheeks and just looks at the man he loves. No words are spoken before the next memory startsâŠ
And it goes through all the major memories that makes Bruce.. Bruce. They see him go through school depressed and alone. They see all the things the other kids do and say to Bruce that pushes him to be more and more of a recluse into himself.
Getting into more fights than they can imagine. They see a Bruce who has no control over himself or his anger. They see a boy who is broken and so stuck in his grief, with no one but Alfred trying to help him.
They see the numerous attempts on his own life. Hating himself more and more each day.
They watch him be alone throughout all of high school and college. Being followed and hounded by the media. Not being left alone to grieve in peace. They watch him dropout of med school and leave Gotham and Alfred.
They watch as he trains with the League of Assassins. See him fall in love and be betrayed by Talia. They watch all that heâs endured to become Batman. The beatings, The torture, The controlâŠ
They watch him come back and see Alfred again after all those years. They see him put together the Brucie persona.. They watch him as he first dawns the Batman suit.
And then they finally get to the memory of the night that he meets Dick. Meets Jason.. They watch Jason die and the aftermath of the Bruce that became afterwards.
Watching Tim be the only reason Bruce didnât kill himself, watching him slowly become as functional as he could be after that.
Seeing everything.. All the trauma, the suffering and pain heâs been through over and over again and still pushing through.
They start to understand the person that his Bruce Wayne, Batman.. and grow to respect him just a bit more..
And the kids come to realize and understand that heâs just a traumatized kid.. heâs just like them. Only difference is.. He didnât have a âBruceâ to save him, like he saved themâŠ
