Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a baby on the Bat's doorstep.

Bruce had been starring at it for almost twenty minutes now. Caught in the doorway, frozen halfway between bewilderment and fear. He blinked. Talia's green eyes blinked back at him from the crib. He watched his own nose scrunch at him as the baby yawned.They breathed together in total silence. The Bat had been brought to heel at the sight of his son; nothing would move him.

Alfred Pennyworth dropped the groceries on the third step.

With a resounding clang the world snapped back into place. Cans clamored down the steps.The pears rolled. The baby cried. And the door snapped closed behind him as Bruce finally unfroze.

Chapter Text

The first three weeks Bruce did what he usually did when confronted with unwanted, uncomfortable emotion, he ignored it. He threw himself at Wayne Enterprises, as Alfred battled dirty diapers. As the Bat stalked through the night, Alfred soothed baby Damian. 

Damian. His son, he had a son. And Talia, the boy’s mother, was nowhere to be found.

By all accounts the woman had spontaneously appeared on his doorstep, dropped off their child, and vanished into thin air. Bruce was furious, she hadn't even left him a note, just the name ‘Damian’. He had hunted her fruitlessly for the better part of a month now. He was tired.  Worse, he was scared. Batman couldn’t be scared, so he sat here in the cold light of the cave’s computer watching as Alfred rocked his son back to sleep on the nanny-cam. The Bat stared off into space as the screen went dark hours later.

“I’ve let this go on for quite long enough, master Wayne”, he would never admit it but he startled at the sudden appearance of Alfred behind him. ”Alfie, I-”  He turned towards him.

“Bruce Thomas Wayne, you will sit there and listen quietly until I am done. Do I make myself clear? And take that blasted cowl off.”

“I- Yes Sir” Alfred had used his full name a grand total of twice. The first time, when he crashed his Father's favorite car in a drunken fit on his 16th birthday. The second, when he put the cowl on for the first time. He knew better than to talk back when he had fucked up enough that Alfred felt the need to drop the playful and affectionate ‘master’ from his name as well. He took the cowl off and stared at his hands, he knew what this was about.

Alfred nodded at his acknowledgement and took a fortifying breath before he began, “I know for a fact that I raised you better than this. You are far too smart not to know what you are doing, have you even held your son yet?” He hadn’t, Damian was so small; he didn’t know anything about children, what if he hurt him? What if he hurt his son?

“I am too old to raise another child, Bruce. I gave you enough time to come to terms with fatherhood on your own, but it appears that you need a more direct approach. I have taken the liberty of informing Wayne Enterprises that you will be taking a vacation and called in Ms. Kane to help with your nightlife. You will be spending the next months without the distraction of your public persona or the Batman. I will not have my son turn into a neglectful parent. I have let you brood ”, his distaste with the word was palpable as it left his mouth, and Bruce felt himself flush, embarrassed. “Now it is time for you to learn and to do better, for Damian’s sake .” he finished softly.

It was too much, Bruce knew, of course he did, that the path he had been on was not feasible long term. A baby didn’t just go away if you ignored them, and Alfred was too good of a man to let Bruce get away with it. But how could he be responsible for a child? Damian relied on him. Goddamit, he was Batman, scourge of Gotham; when he wasn’t terrifying criminals he was running a billion dollar company. This? This? Is what truly scared him, a son.

He hadn’t realized he was shaking until Alfred’s hands came to gently cup his cheeks. “It’s okay to be scared Bruce, Lord knows I was when- You won’t be doing this alone, son.”

“Dad, I-I” he shuddered into Alfred's embrace, they stayed there for a long moment.

Reluctantly, they parted, “Time for bed now, I think. We’ll start tomorrow, you have a lot to learn, Bruce.” And then they went upstairs, and Alfred tucked him into bed as if he wasn’t well on his way to 30. He slept better than he had in a long time, and in the morning, after he thanked Alfie for pulling his head out of his ass, he started learning the ins and outs of being a parent.

……………

Somehow, toddler Damian was even cuter than he was as an infant. Bruce however, looked haggard. Running after Damian would have been a full time job on its own without bringing W.E. or The Bat into the mix. His son was a lively and curious thing from the first second he was walking, and surprisingly fast for his age. He had a fascination with anything that moved, and Bruce often found himself chasing Damian chasing whatever new critter he had found across the manor floor. Bruce only thanked the heavens that he seemed to have no interest in putting them into his mouth when he caught them, the roaches especially turned his stomach weak.

Bruce was so tired chasing after his son in fact, that the Bat had not been seen in almost a week. 

Alfred had been so relieved, Bruce was finally able to convince him to take the day off at Gotham’s botanical gardens. A gift from one of Ivy’s better moods. Back at home, Bruce had just set Damian down for his nap. He was currently taking a moment to lay down on the carpet and contemplate just how much his life had changed in the last year. How much he had changed. 

It was here, face pressed into the rug, that Bruce found himself the happiest he could remember. He smiled. It was barely noon and he had laughed more today than he had in the whole year previous to Damian’s arrival. Bruce felt more separate from Batman than he had since he first donned the cape and cowl. 

Bruce was healing. He liked how it felt on him.

That was, of course, when Talia al Ghul knocked on his door.

………

Broken from his reverie, Bruce snapped to his feet. Damian was still asleep, and would stay that way if he had anything to say about it. He closed the door gently and made his way quickly to the front of the house.

She was waiting for him in the entryway.

“Beloved,” the word rolled off her tongue and hardened Bruce’s spine. “I’m here for my son.”

Bruce crossed his arms and more firmly blocked off the hallway, she had caught him off guard. And suddenly, he was furious. “It’s been a year, Talia. You left him on my doorstep. What could you possibly want now? After a year of total silence. I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!” He took a deep breath, hoping he hadn’t woken Damian. “No, you do not get to see my son.” 

She remained as unruffled as ever. “This was only ever a temporary arrangement, Beloved. My father had plans for the boy; they did not agree with me. I needed somewhere to put him while I took care of the problem.” Her eyes seemed to glow as she continued. “Do not make this harder than it needs to be Bruce, he is my heir. I will be taking him back to the League.”

The League of Assassins, Talia wanted to raise his son in that hell. Bruce himself had barely survived his training at their hands and he had been an adult. He braced himself for a fight, “Over my dead body, Talia.”

“Ra's al Ghul is dead, if that is what concerns you.” she said almost flippantly about the death of her father. “ I am the Demon’s Head now. No need for these dramatics. The boy should be with me, his mother.”

Bruce was angry again, his son wasn’t even potty trained and she was here to drag him away. He still had the scars of his time in the League, and he would not have Damian suffer the same injustices. The silence stretched on between them as they stared each other down.

The click slide of a shotgun pump rang out in the quiet, “ I believe you are trespassing, Miss Al Ghul.” Came Alfred’s crisp tone from out behind them.

“Very well,” Talia huffed. “There are other things which require my attention currently. However, I will return for him, Beloved. You cannot keep him from me forever, he will have to face his birthright eventually.” And she was gone, before either of them had a chance to unfreeze.

The gun had been disassembled and put away by the time Bruce turned around. He barely even noticed it as he hurried down the hallway towards his son’s room. 

Safe . He was safe. Still sleeping soundly in his crib.

His shoulders finally relaxed, as Alfred came to stand behind him. They looked at each other, and looked at Damian, and came to the silent conclusion that Talia would have a hell of a time getting through the two of them. Damian snuffled and rolled over in agreement.

……

In the wake of Talia’s recent kidnapping attempt, Bruce had taken another step back from Batman. He would give her as few opportunities as possible to come for Damian again.

Sooner than Bruce thought feasible, Damian was stringing together sentences all on his own, and Talia was as quiet as she had been the first year of his life. One unintended consequence of beginning home more than not was that he had time to notice things.

More specifically he noticed his neighbors, the Drakes...