Work Text:
Bruce didn't see much of himself in Damian.
Now, that's not to say there's no resemblance at all. He's got Bruce's canine teeth, even one being ever so slightly longer than the other like his own. He's got Bruce's nervous tick of tapping his fingers to his thumb to regulate intense feelings. He's even caught Damian making the exact same expression as him when a reporter ask a particularly dense question.
But Damian doesn't look much like Talia either. He may have gotten her cheekbones, her icy gaze and rigid belief system. But that's where it stops.
Yes, they did the DNA test.
Yes, Damian is a Wayne.
Damian is 17 now, prepping for his senior year and life in college; he runs the Titans with Jonathan Kent, and in true fashion they work well together. Bruce knows. He's a father. And his children are not nearly as sneaky as they think. Whether it's sneaking out to do unapproved vigilantism or party, or see their partners. Bruce is always aware. Always sees between the lines.
He knows Jon isn't just Damian's partner. It's more than that.
Just as it was with Dick and Wally; Tim and Conner.
Speaking of.
Bruce knows, while Damian will never admit it, that the youngest looks up to Tim. He looks up to all of them, but Tim is always there, always around. And he knows that Damian has a soft spot for Conner as well; bonding over their love of animals and grungy 90s music.
So, is Bruce surprised when Damian comes home in the wee hours of the morning with pierced ears?
In short: no.
All of his children have some sort of jewlery or body modification. As long as it was done proper and doesn't get infected, Bruce doesn't really care.
He's been told several times that's not exactly A+ parenting.
But those people can shove it.
They look at each other, quiet but not suffocating.
"Professional or home job?"
A beat.
"Professional." Another beat. "Grayson signed off."
Ah.
That checks out.
"Keep them clean until they heal." Was all Bruce said, finishing up at the computer.
Damian gave a curt nod, finished cleaning his sword and restocked his utility belt before heading up to the house.
As it goes, the cycle repeats itself. Bruce can't help the fond smile as he files his report away.
Well. They are just sitting there gathering dust.
And Bruce will never wear them.
Everyone is getting ready for an annual holiday charity gala. Bruce is in his room, rummaging for a particular pair of cuff links when the blue crushed velvet box catches his eye.
It's sat in the exact same place for nearly three decades. Bruce knows what's inside. He's just never needed them. Never had anyone to loan them out or give them to. Sure, he had offered them to Tim and Dick when they pierced their ears, but both declined. Jason, while also in the club, has openly expressed that he won't wear anything that aren't plain sterling studs.
Well.
Third times the charm, right?
"Damian!" Bruce called, pulling on his suit jacket and heading for the hall.
"Yes, father?" Damian asks, his bedroom door wide open as he finishes helping Jon with his tie.
Bruce walks across the hall. "You're healed up, right?"
Damian knows exactly what he means. "Yes, father. Any reason to ask?"
"Here," Bruce enters the bedroom, taking stock of how tidy it is. "Try these tonight, if you want. They're family heirlooms." Bruce places the small box on the nightstand, and turns to leave.
"Thank you, father." Damian says, but Bruce is already half out the door.
The others are running around with their boyfriends and girlfriends. Cassandra and Stephanie's laughter rings out as they finish getting ready, Lian is giggling as she runs across Bruce's path wrapped in a towel as Jason and Roy run after her, Tim and Conner ahead of him as they head downstairs where he can hear Wally and Dick talk sweetly as Alfred heads to pull the limo around.
God, Bruce thinks to himself, mother and father would have loved this. The house full of family and life.
Selina is also waiting in the foyer, dressed in a stunning cherry wine color, making her blue eyes seem illuminated. Bruce felt his heart race as he decends the staircase, smiling that good ol Brucie Wayne smile, but actually feeling it, hoping she knows its for her and her alone.
"Ms Kyle, you look incredible." Bruce says, voice a low rumble. He catches the way her eyes flash. "Hopefully we're on our best behavior tonight."
She meets his banter tit for tat. "Well, I promised others I'd be on my worse behavior. And I'm nothing, if not a woman of my word, so-"
"Jesus fucking Christ B you're too old for this shit." Jason says with Lian, finally dressed, on his hip, Roy barely a step behind. "And keep that shit to a minimum for the kid, ya hear? She doesn't need to know what her grandpa does."
"You literally just cussed like, three times in two seconds." Wally said, snatching the baby from Jason. "Come to Uncle Wally baby girl, I'll protect you from your papa's foul mouth."
"Can we go already?" Tim ask, adjusting his sleeves. "The sooner we get this done the sooner we can go hit the rooftops."
"I've prepared everything in the back of the limo, gentleman." Alfred says as he returns.
"We're ready!" Stephanie calls, holding Cass' hand, Jon and Damian behind them. Bruce couldn't tell if he had changed his earrings or not, Cass and Steph both taller than the youngest Wayne child, more so in their heels. "We need to go now otherwise all the good champaign will be gone!"
The chatter is wonderful, as they head into the city. Bruce loves this. Loves how well all his kids are finally getting along.
They wait their turn to walk the carpet, Bruce and Selina stepping out first, the kids and their spouses following in sets.
"Mr Wayne!" Cat Grant calls, Jimmy snapping photos as he and Selina approach.
"Ms Grant, a pleasure to see you as always." Bruce says. He knows Lois and Clark are inside, getting in depth interviews.
"Likewise, Mr Wayne!" Cat replies. "I just wanted your thoughts on your youngest Damian getting his ears pierced! People online are going crazy! Any thoughts or comments?"
Bruce and Selina both laugh. "He is a smart young man with an excellent head on his shoulders, if this is the worst thing he does, I feel I've done well as a parent. Besides, it's good bonding for him and his brothers."
"Care to elaborate?" Cat pushes with a smile.
"I'm afraid that's all I have time for Ms Grant, have a good evening!" Bruce let's Selina pull him along, most of the others already inside.
They mingle with the other charity goers, eventually do an interview with Clark and Lois. They go about the evening, dancing along when the mood strikes, when Bruce finally saw it.
Damian allowed Jon to pull him to the dance floor where Bruce and Selina were already waltzing. He happened to look over after a turn.
The earrings.
Martha Wayne's earrings.
And it clicks.
Damian is smiling, gently, the one reserved just for Jon. Damian's eyes are glowing with love and joy, Bruce sees his son shift closer, press their foreheads together.
"What's wrong darling?" Selina ask, face neutral as she tries to follow where Bruce is looking.
"Damian. I see it." Bruce is soft. His voice, his face. "I see it, who he looks like now."
"Oh?" Selina prompts, looking at Damian and Jon as they too, continue to waltz.
"My mother." Bruce feels his chest tighten. "How could I have been so blind? He even has her eye color. The pronounced cupids bow. All of it."
Selina pulls Bruce to mirror the young couple, pressing their foreheads together.
"Are you okay? This seems to be quite jarring for you." Selina reads him easily.
"I'm okay." Bruce kisses her, soft, quick. "It was just a surprise. That's all."
The night goes off without incident. They raise more than double the goal to provide food and gifts for at need families not just in Gotham City, but the entire county.
Patrol that night is a breeze with all of them fanning out. Clark even comes to run around with them after the gala, Lois joining Alfred in the Bat Cave.
Bruce sees the articles when they pass by a news stand.
He's surprised Gotham even has any of them left, given the age they live in.
Wayne heir stuns Gala: Martha reincarnated
Huh. So Bruce wasn't the only one who saw it.
"Sphere News? Isn't that tabloid trash?" Kon ask when everyone is back at the cave.
"Not always, son." Clark says, looking at the article. "Honestly, I thought it was going to be more about their relationship than what it is."
Bruce looks at Damian, who is putting the earrings back on now that patrol is done for the night.
"It's ridiculous." Damian says, as he fastens the backs on. "This is what classifies as news?"
"People love following celebrities dear." Jon says. "The entire Wayne family has their own fan base who follows everything you guys do. The public calls you guys America's Royal Family."
Damian wrinkles his nose at this.
"Bruce saw it." Selina says. "Tell him."
Bruce looks back to Damian, chest tight.
He's never lied to his kids. Not if he can help it.
"That article is spot on." Bruce says. "You do. Look like Martha. Like my mom."
Wally whistles. "Man, those are some strong genetics then."
Bruce is looking at the photos now, everyone looking at the computer monitor. Damian was captured in almost the exact same pose as the photo of Martha that was cropped next to it. A look over the shoulder, probably someone calling their names. Damian's lips are barely parted, eyes looking for whoever called, hair perfectly styled.
Martha was doing the same in her photo; lips parted slightly, eyes looking as her head is turned over her shoulder, pageboy bob perfectly styled in soft elegant waves.
In both photos, the earrings gleam.
There's a sniffle in the room.
It was Alfred.
"Alfred? Are you okay?" Dick ask, softly as he places a hand on his shoulder.
Alfred cleans his face with his handkerchief.
"Terribly sorry, Young Masters." Alfred's voice is wobbly.
Bruce wipes his own tears away.
He had a violent realization he had forgotten what his mother looked like.
"Your grandparents were my best friends." Alfred continues. "More than that. They were my family."
A pause.
"You, are all my family."
Bruce couldn't have said it better.
Damian is asked about it a few times in impromptu interviews over the next year or so. His reply is always the same.
"Martha Wayne was a beautiful and kind woman who, through the legacy she left behind and instilled in her son, continues to affect the community to this day. To be compared to my grandmother in any capacity is a compliment and an honor."
"I hope I do her legacy justice."