Chapter Text
Prologue
Bruce Wayne was staring out the top story window of the Sisters of Mercy convent on Fifth Street. A full moon was in the sky, though barely visible through the Gotham fog.
Inside the room were 10 people. All part of or connected to Gotham's richest family. Damian Wayne stood next to his father. They both wore matching grey suits (Alfred's idea). Neither Damian nor his father had disagreed with it.
Next to a statue of the Virgin Mary stood Tim Drake, dressed to the nines. He gazed admiringly at its craftsmanship. If this was a couple years ago, he would have made fun of a “virgin birth”. Steph would have smacked him upside the head. But instead, he silently enjoyed the piece.
A blonde sat in a big brown chair by the entrance. She had been staring at the bookshelves when Bruce, without turning, asked “Steph did you see the note I left you?”
She blinked and looked over at Bruce. “Mmhmm. I’ll get on it.”
Stephanie Brown wasn't exactly religious, but she had come to appreciate the sisters. As an organization she respected the commitment it took to leave your life behind for a greater good.
Leaning against a wall beside Steph was Duke. He had been sleeping when Alfred woke him to get ready. He was the only one who did the day shift. As a consequence, he was trying to doze for a few minutes, as the rest of them wondered why they were here.
At a desk in the middle of the room sat Father O’leary. He was the pastor of St. Jude's and director of the convent. Next to him stood Reverend Mother. A stern woman who took her job as superior very seriously. She talked quietly with Alfred about some techniques on helping raise stubborn children.
Damian tried to hide a smile. While Bruce rolled his eyes with a scowl on his face. Everyone in the room knew who Alfred was asking for help about. Tim stifled a laugh when he heard Alfred ask about “appropriate bedtimes for overactive yet gloomy children.”
At that moment a knock on the door made everyone turn. A Sister entered and announced the arrival of Richard Grayson and Barbara Gordon. They entered the room arm and arm…in a way. Barbara was in a wheelchair holding onto Dick’s hand as he wheeled her into the room. He pushed her chair next to where Steph sat and stood beside Babs.
“Is this everyone?” Father O’leary asked.
“Everyone except Selina.” Bruce replied. “Oh and,” Turning towards the window again and opening it he said, “You can come in now, Jason.”
A young man in a hoodie and jeans jumped in from the ledge. He stood and dusted his pants off.
“Couldn't have worn something nicer, Jason?” Dick asked.
“‘Couldn't have worn something nicer, Jason?’ No, I had to grapple up here, dumb-”
“Thank you for coming, Mr. Todd.” Fr. O'leary interrupted with a stern look. “If we may start this meeting, I have some things to discuss with you all. And I'd rather do this quickly since I have an early mass in the morning.”
The group nodded as they all focused their attention on Father. He sat at a desk made of mahogany. It had leaves and Irish knots engraved into it. It had in fact been a gift from Bruce's grandparents. Passed down from rector to rector. It had, surprisingly, survived the many superiors of the convent over the years.
Father took out a pipe, filled it, lit it and continued.
“I asked all of you here tonight about a matter that concerns Sr. Jeanna as you all know she will be taking vows in about 2 weeks. Part of the process for her was to write down her story of how she came to be in the convent. Obviously, she is on her retreat and cannot join us-”
“How is that obvious?” Damian questioned.
Bruce gave Damian a tired look. While Tim responded “Because she has done this for every step, Damian. Do you think she’d be able to decide, if she didn't take a break from your idiocy every week?”
“You mean Your idiocy every week.”
“Tim…” Dick glared at them both separately, “and Damian be quiet. Let Father explain.”
“Thank you, Richard. As Timothy explained,” Father gave a side eye to Tim. “Rather poorly, Sr. Jeanna will be on retreat to make sure her decision is the right one. As she is doing her retreat, I wanted you all to write down your parts of her story.”
“I’m confused.” Duke chimed in while tilting his head. “What do you mean by our part? What are we, to add to her… biography?”
“Oh, mostly memories you have with her. How she helped you throughout the years. Those type of incidents. This will be for posterity. Not for public consumption. But we will want you to be as accurate as possible, thank you. It's a tool to help the sister see her life choices and if she is making the correct one”
Jason chuckled at this.
“Well,” He spoke and stood up, “I don't need to be here then. Since I’m legally dead I’ll be getting out of this…’family history lesson’.”Jason headed for the window.
“Unfortunately, you are not getting out of this.” Tim sighed. “Bruce and I have been working with Lucius on legally bringing you back from the dead.” He massaged the bridge of his nose as Jason turned towards Bruce.
“What?!?!” Jason roared. “You didn't think to ask me?”
“Voices are to be quiet at such a late hour!” Reverend mother spoke with the authority of a drill Sergeant. Jason cringed.
Bruce answered. “I told you. We have been working on this for the past two months.” He crossed his arms and looked at Jason with an unimpressed expression.
“That was before I knew I’d have to do homework.” Jason glared and started crawling out the window. Looking back, he smiled and said, “I hope your schoolwork goes well kiddos.” Then he exited the room and jumped off the ledge.
Bruce turned back to Father O’Leary. “I’ll get him to do it somehow.” The others in the room had slightly apprehensive looks on their face about that statement.
“Any other inquiries?” Father questioned.
Out of thin air woman with short black hair whispered something to Bruce. He listened intently before nodding to her. Then she backed into the shadows of a bookcase.
“Cass is wondering about the timeline for this project.” He voiced for her.
“We will need this done before Sister Loretta’s ceremony. As it will need to be printed and bound.” Mother Superior spoke. Addressing the room of people, she made sure to make eye contact with each before continuing. Her teaching habits had yet to die away with her role as mistress of the convent. “Please have it done in a week and be punctual. Otherwise, your stories won’t be edited in time for her final vows.”
“One week doesn’t seem like a long time to write years' worth of stories.” Steph stated. “Do you expect us to get hand cramps scribbling on our few free hours for some biography?”
“It's only for a week, Steph.” Tim murmured to her. “Remember what she did for you?”
Steph gave a small smile and nodded her head. “You’re right. I’m over tired. Apologies Reverend Mother.”
“You think you're tired.” Duke rolled his eyes at her comment. Then glanced at his watch calculating how much sleep he’d be able to get tonight. Stifling a yawn, he looked back up. The entire room was staring at him. Damian scowled in disgust.
“You are a disappointment.” He started with contempt.
Dick chuckled at Damian’s obvious disdain. “Is there anything else that you need?”
“No, that will be it. Thank you all for coming.” Father smiled at them all. “Would any of you like some coffee before you leave?”
Most agreed to the coffee except Duke, Alfred and Damian. Duke needed to sleep. Alfred preferred tea. But Damian had become a coffee snob and refused commoners coffee, as he referred to it.
They all slowly filed out after saying their goodbyes to Father and Reverend Mother. The last one to leave was Alfred. He turned to them and smirked.
“I must thank you for helping me with this. I can barely keep track of all the stories anymore.”
“You are welcome.” Father grinned at Alfred as he dumped out his pipe.