*Takes gun away from your head* you don't need to choose between superbat and lanternbat occa we will choose for you š
Bruce being the best man for both Clark and Hal's weddings to their significant others (Lois and Carol (or someone else for Hal idk his love interests that well))
Don't mind me I'm just going to make it worse
Arthur marries Mera, Clark marries Lois, Barry marries Iris, Hal marries Carol, J'onn falls for Diana Meade and never really comes back after it fizzles, Steve Trevor gets fucking resurrected or some dumb shit temporarily and Diana goes to be with him and never comes back after he's gone again.
No one leaves the polycule, but Bruce just slowly finds himself alone. None of them even had the grace to break up with him.
He smiles as he's asked to be part of the bridal party again and again, and stands at the altar, and he loves them, he wants them to be happy, and he knows that couldn't happen with him. It clearly didn't, anyway.
He never quite manages to stop being in love with them. Not when he still works with them day in day out, and sees those same qualities he fell for in the first place only grow as time goes on.
One day, years in the future, all the families are hanging out. A conversation, inane as it was, sparks a thought. Jason turns to Bruce: "why did you take so long to date Selina?"
Bruce shrugs, playing chess with Tim. "I was already in a relationship."
Clark peers at the chessboard. "I never understood that. I wouldn't have minded, and I know theā"
"You dated Clark?" The kids all turns to stare, and Bruce nods, plucking Tim's knight off the board. "When did you break up?" Jason demands, eyes darting between them.
Bruce shrugs. "We didn't, really. We just stopped going on dates."
Wally sits up. "I thought you dated Barry."
"So when did you break up with him to date Supes?"
Bruce hums, and Tim takes his pawn. "I didn't. We just stopped going on dates."
Clark and Barry frown at each other. Garth raises a hand.
"Weren't you and Arthur a thing before he got married?" Bruce nods. "Is that when you broke up?"
Bruce sighs, giving him a beweildered look. "We didn't break up."
Mera leans away from Arthur, and he pulls her back, but his eyes don't leave Bruce. "We're not still together. We just...stopped going on dates."
Tim loses a rook, too busy squinting at Bruce. "I thought you dated Diana."
Bruce rolls the rook in his hand and nods, watching the board. "Hm? Yes."
"Let me guess, you didn't break up either."
Diana frowns. "No, we...just stopped going on dates. Bruce..."
"You were busy with Steve. It was an emotional time."
Everyone stares at the Founders, all frowning at each other.
Hal spins his wedding ring. "Let me guess, Spooks. None of us broke up with you."
Bruce chuckles, looking up with a smile. "No, I don't remember that happening, do you?" His attention draws back to the board, and he pushes his pawn to the end of the board. "Queen," he informs, and Tim curses.
J'onn looks around. "I don't believe we broke up with each other at all."
"The weddings were a big clue."
Lois leans forward. "Bruce. Are you telling me that of your six partners, none of them had the grace to break up with you, and just started dating or married someone else?" Clark shies away from his wife's tone, eyes fixed on Bruce.
He leans back from the board, thinking. "No, but it's not as though it was just me. We were all dating each other, so we all understood. People leave polycules all the time."
"They used to be a polycule?" Oliver asks Dinah.
The kids gape at their guardians. Dick scowls. "So you're telling me the reason they stopped coming around wasn't because 'people have their own lives, Dick', but because they'reā"
Bruce cuts him off with a look. "Dick. What is the issue? Whatever we had ended years ago."
Donna leans back in her chair. "Bruce, just, quick question?"
Bruce turns back to the neglected board, but gestures for her to speak. He picks up his knight, andā
"How many times were you in the bridal party?"
āthey all watch the wooden piece tremble briefly in his grip. Then he sets it down on the board, and clears his throat. "Check." Tim doesn't react, staring at Bruce. "And, Donna, four."
She nods. "Four times. Four marriages."
"Indeed, it was an honour. Tim."
Tim looks at the board, and the vein throbbing in Bruce's temple, can read the visceral discomfort in his body at having all of the attention on him, so sighs and moves his king.
Cass edges closer, eyes narrowed. "You didn't date Selina because you were in a relationship."
Bruce takes a beat, then nods, brow dipping. "Yes? Why are we back on Selina? We broke up years ago." After he was left at the altar.
"But they added to polycule."
Bruce smiles. "I didn't need to. I was more than happy enough with them."
The room is frozen, watching Bruce guide Tim's king into a trap, and eventually Tim deflates, and knocks the piece over.
