I Am Legend (Open)

[The Dark Knight]

"No! Please! Stop!"

These were the cries of a nineteen year-old young man being left at the mercy of a brutal gang of four men. The young man's body was buckeled over against a alleyway wall, lying crumpled across the pavement as the men snickered and sneered as they continued blow after blow onto the man's now breaking bones. Blood splattered from his mouth after every shot, his body buckled under the impacts and he seemed to completely give up resistance. "Lift him up." Ordered one of the men. To which two of the four grabbed grabbed his arms and brought him to a standing position. The third man pulled the young man's face up to directly come in contact with the fourth standing right in front of him. "What were you saying before? About how she's yours now and not mine?" Pulling a knife from his jacket pocket, he brought the blade to the nearly unconscious and bloodied young man's face, the tip of the blade moving towards his eye. "She likes your eyes, she says. Well, she won't be too interested in you when she sees they're gone." The man gurgled beneath the blood, begging for the thug to not do what he was about to do. The blade edged closer and closer to the man's eye.

"AAAAAAGHHH!!!!"

That was the scream of the thug whom had the knife. The knife now lay on he pavement, and what replaced the knife was a batarang...lodged into the back of his palm. The other three thugs immediatley threw the younger man to the ground and dispersed, pulling out their own knives. Their heart rates were racing, and it was no surprise; as the fourth man, whom recieved a batarang to his hand, was panting and whining in pain. "It's...it's the Bat!!" He yelled as he scrambled arond on the ground for his knife. The second man moved further down the alleyway, and turned his back to a wall for a few moments. Looking directly at the third thug, the man's eyes were full of terror. "What...? What is it?!" The third thug merely was locked in silence as his eyes were lodged onto something behind the second man.

A giant bat was hanging directly above him.

Dropping down from his cable, the Batman landed on top of the second man, battering his body against the pavement and knocking hm unconscious. The thid thug charged forward in a rage of terror with a knife, aiming to stab the Dark Knight in the chest with his right hand. Parrying the arm away with his right hand, he shot forward with his left forearm, catching the man in his exposed rib. Following up the motion, he latched onto his arm, and span is own weight in a judo like move; throwing the thug ontop of the body he had previously landed on. Two unconscious bodies now littered the alley. The first thug attempted a large horizontal swing with his knife towards the Dark Knight's head. Ducking under the swing, he shot forward with his elbow into the man's stomach, before snapping his fist upwards directly into the face of the thug. The nose cracked under the resounding pressure before the man collapsed backwards.

"Wha...What are you!?!"

The fourth man yelled as he brought himself to his feet and began sprinting away from the Batman. For a few moments, nothing happened, and the thug truly thought he had escaped the clutches of the Dark Knight. Seeing his vehicle, the man began to dart for it, nursing his wounded hand. He reached for the handle, forcing it open as he pressed himself into the front driver seat. The engine wouldn't start. Suddenly, the entire roof portion of the car was smashed as a hand reached through and grabbed the man by his collar. Lifting him out of the vehicle, a menacing face stared dirctly into the murderer's eyes.

"I'm Batman."

Speaking the words with a growl, Batman proceeded to headbutt the man into unconsciousness. Stepping off the roof of the car, he carried the man to where the other unconscious bodies were. The young man was still there, bleeding and battered. "You...you're back?" After laying the body down with the rest of the thugs, sirens were sounded in the distance of police coming to the scene. Turning to the beaten young man, he spoke in a calm but dark demeanour. "As long as Gotham is here, so will I." Pulling his grapple gun from his belt, he launched up to a rooftop. Perched high above the city, he watched as police moved in to grab the thugs and tend to the young man.

[Batgirl]

Cassandra had made her new home in Jump City rejoining the Teen Titans in an attempt to run away. From what exactly? Perhaps that feeling of having a shattered heart after the unofficial announcement of her mentor's death. Something Tim refused to believe while Dick accepted the fate of the dark knight. Cassandra herself? Well she was torn at first and sided with Tim believing that he had survived. However, these last few weeks, she'd begun to side with Dick.

There were no clues to where the hell Bruce could be if he was alive. Also, if he were alive, why wasn't he back yet? The batfamily was on it's last leg since Bruce really was the glue who held them together, the one who trained them and gave them their capes and their identities. He was a legend and according to some recent reports, someone's been running around as him again. No, it wasn't Dick or that bastard Jason. Whoever it was, Cassandra wouldn't stand for someone charading as the man who had turned her life around.

Decked out in her batgirl gear, the little bat swung through the heights of Gotham city seeking out the whereabouts of this new Batman and was definitely itching to plant her foot into their backside. There were very few things Cassandra ever took personal, but number one on her list of things to never mess around with was her family. She could already hear the sirens of patrol cars zooming down the streets below, and the batgirl swung in their direction towards the site of the crime.

Just over the crime scene, Cassandra caught sight of something...more like someone perched up on the building she had intended to land on in order to catch a closer view of exactly what was going on. She dropped from her line, landing on the rooftop behind the figure wearing the all too familiar cowl. "You've got some nerve wearing that costume. I'm glad you freaks all think masquerading around as him is entertaining. I'm not amused...not one bit." she spoke in a low and bitter tone as she started a slow, yet cautious pace towards the figure.

[oracle]

Oracle had been bouncing between Gotham and Metropolis. She had told Dinah that she was going to Gotham on some business, it wasn't really a lie since one of her hidey holes held something that she wanted. Also, she had missed Alfred and wanted to visit him. But the other reason was she just needed some time to process everything going on with her best friend. She was torn between wanting to knock her upside the head and comfort her. Sad thing is a best friend would do both, wouldn't she? It would make sense, let Dinah know she was there for her but also help her to get through it. Babs was so confused at the moment it wasn't even funny.

It was during that confusion that she ended up on the opposite side of the street from the alley to which the young man was being assaulted. As she waited for the light traffic to get passed so she could go to help she saw him. Green eyes blinked when she saw the Bat. That wasn't Grayson. One didn't spend years working with someone and then also being their lover without knowing how they moved. That was definitely not Grayson. Green eyes narrowed the person moved just like..... No. Finally, the traffic eased up and she wheeled across the street just in time to watch him grapple off.

There was a twinge of jealousy, but not much when she saw Batgirl land next to him. Well, she'd find out what was going on. Either way, Babs needed to know who the hell it as. He moved like Bruce, and part of her always believed Bruce was still alive. But he'd have told them he was back. Wouldn't he? Babs moved out of view before the police showed up and chewed her thumbnail. She had to figure out how to get up on that roof or hope that Cass saw her and would come down and fill her in. If he were back, he'd have told them. Oh who was she kidding it was Bruce, he wouldn't have said anything, but does Alfred know? Well duh, Alfred knew everything. He would have told them. Wouldn't he? She checked her cell phone for missed calls. None. What the hell was going on?

[The Dark Knight]

With eyes of a bat, Bruce scanned the street. Ironically enough, bats were blind, but that was the whole point. Bats could visualise far more than any kind of animal, rivalling even the eagle in perception. Watching the police cars, his eyes picked up someone in a chair. Barbara. Beneath the cowl, a small grin tilted its way up his cheek; of course she was here. The news of someone dressed as a bat would be public knowledge by now. Someone was portraying Batman, and Bruce's old allies were determined to find out who.

Just like the person behind him. Bruce knew Batgirl was there. He knew how she moved and operated, ad had spotted her before she had even scaled the roof that he was perched on. Not even turning around, Bruce still scanned the region below as Cassandra, his adopted daughter, began to insult him for tarnishing the name and legend of Batman. He was proud of her, of what she had become. He had rescued her from the depths of personal darkness, and turned her into a young woman who would never back down from evil.

"Leave the amusement to Edward Nigma."

Bang. The first sign that this Batman knew the identity of the Riddler; one of the Dark Knight's oldest and cunning foes. Standing up slowly, he turned his body to face his adopted daughter. Opening his hands, he brought his palms up to his head, as if he was surrendering. Yet, as he did so, something happened on the streets below. Screaming. Suddenly, a bright light of flame ripped a patch of road near the scene, but away from the police and civillians.

"Someone! Put that fire out!"
"Wait! Look...it's a symbol!"

The flame had been expertly drawn on the strong surface of he road. The symbol of a bat with spread wings. The very same symbol that once was found high above the city in the clouds. Tilting his head to over the roof, the Dark Knight lowered his hands slowly. "Take a look for yourself, Cassandra." There was no humour in his voice, no hidden demeaour. He was serious as he stepped out of the way for Batgirl to view the splendid and magnificent fiery bat signal painted across the cement.

[Batgirl]

Mid way, Cassandra stopped in her footsteps as so as she heard the stranger speak. However, his voice was no stranger to Cassandra's ear. It was that same voice that saved her from her own self destruction...that voice that delivered her a purpose in life, a purpose she now shared with the rest of her new family. It belonged to the man who had taken her in off the streets, the man who had taken the mantle of a father figure in her life and who had given her his last name. The man who saw something else in her when she would have never thought was there. To transform from a living weapon raised to kill for her blood father, but no. She didn't want that and neither did the person before her either and he guided her towards a path of justice and delivered her from the destruction of her own inner demons...

Then the signal. The fiery bat spread out across the streets below. Some symbolism...was it meant to signify Bruce's rise from the ashes? If he had been dead at all...but screw if he had been dead or not, He was alive! Cassandra felt slightly dazed for a second or two from the realization. Tim had been right this whole time. "You live..." she spoke in a faint tone as her eyes glazed over. She couldn't cry. She had done that months ago when she had began to accept his supposed deceased status...now there was that guilt weighing heavily on her heart, so much so, the little bat actually fell to he knees before her mentor, staring at the roof they were a top of. Her hands clenched into fists as a droplet fell from her right eye and fell onto the foundation surface. It was then joined by another...and then another.

"Forgive me..."

[drake]

Red Robin perched motionless on a gargoyle and stared down at the cityscape below him with a keen gaze. Gotham. A city of misery wrapped and sheathed in imposing gothic architecture in an attempt to hide its true nature, a place where even the wind carried faint whispers of promised violence, corruption, and despair. It was good to be home.

The familiar sights hadn’t brought him back however; instead he was here on much more serious matters, namely tailing a certain member of his extended family, Cassandra Cain. He blamed himself, he’d been too wrapped up in searching for the family he’d lost that he’d neglected the family he had by his side, he hadn’t seen the signs... No, he had seen the signs. He just hadn’t seen how bad it had become for his adoptive sister until it was too late, until she’d fled Jump City for Gotham. He just hoped his condition wouldn’t fail him until he found her, until he made amends. A thin, rueful smirk tugged on his lips, an expression that wasn’t quite felt by the inner turmoil inside. It seemed most of his life at the moment was wrapped around that one little word. Until.

While his costume shielded most of his injuries he’d received at the hands of that sick, demented clown from view, it, like the aforementioned architecture of the city below him, only hid the problem, it did nothing to address it. By all rights he should have still remained hospital ridden, recovering from the encounter. Indeed, every acrobatic move, every rooftop leapt in search of his missing kin sent waves of pain radiating from almost part of the Teen Wonder’s battered body that highlighted the fact that much more recuperation was needed before he was even close to returning to full health, yet he still pressed on with his task. Working through pain was nothing new, and he couldn’t afford to let his quarry elude him. So he pressed on into the night.

It was a good job he did, for as he cleared the next building he found her, although a small part of him wish he hadn’t. The sight of Cassandra on her knees, crying no less at the feet of whoever had dared defile the sanctity of Bruce’s memory by wearing that costume, caused his mind to go blank with a white fury. All rational thought vanished behind an angry haze; he didn’t even notice his staff sliding into his palm’s grasp, all he could perceive was the imposter and Cassandra – his sister and perhaps his only stable lifeline at present – in apparent dire straits. He couldn’t lose another family member, not again. Especially not to some bastard pretending to be his father. It didn’t even enter into the equation that it was Bruce, for surely he would have contacted them some other way by now, right? He wouldn’t have just left them in the dark about his life; he wouldn’t have left them with their misery, pain, and anguish over losing him... He wouldn’t...

Soundlessly he darted forward from the shadows, ignoring the groans of protest from his still battered ribs, not to mention the several lengths of stitches that wormed their way up his sides, and struck with a vicious blow with his staff towards his sister’s apparent assailant from the side.

[oracle]

Babs head turned when the fire spread. It didn't take much to realize what it had become by the reactions around her. Very Crowish of the Batman to do that. Now if only she could get up there. Green eyes narrowed as Cass vanished from view. What the hell? Then another figure appeared, and she watched the attack. Tim. Had to be. The wheelchair bound, red head chewed on her thumbnail in thought. She wasn't really a part of that family anymore, was she? If they were going to stay on the rooftops.... Both her hands scrubbed over her face and then when to the wheels of her chair. They needed time to sort it out, she didn't belong up there with them.

It was one of those things she'd been harboring since she got shot. That feeling of not truly belonging anymore. She was no longer a Bat anything, the girl up there having taken over where she failed to be able to perform. With a shake of her head, the one now called Oracle, started to wheel off. Through all the commotion her getaway should be fairly clean. Maybe she'd find out later if it really was Bruce. If it was he'd better come talk to her. Her hand went to her necklace and she sighed softly. She didn't belong here anymore and couldn't help but wonder why she kept coming back. It was simple really, the choice had been taken from her, she wanted to still belong.

[The Dark Knight]

The Dark Knight merely stayed completely still, his cape blowing in the wind of the night as he observed the reaction of his daughter, Cassandra as she came to realise who in fact was before her. His expert eyes followed the signs that she was nothing but lost in utter shock. The signs such as her knees buckling under a invisible emotional weight, a weight that she had been carrying around for far too long. To think, that his sudden death had caused so much damage to this young girl, shocked Bruce. But then again, his own parent's deaths were like explosions inside his heart, ripping away at any chance of happiness.

Slowly, he stepped forward, and reached his right hand out. He was going to do something that he could not afford to have any thug or criminal see. He was about to embrace her, which would signify that the Batman is infact a living breathing man with a heart, and not a legendary being. Yet, something caught his eye to the side. Not only did it catch the attention of his eye, but his keen ears picked up the sound of feet leaving a surface in the form of a leap. His right arm, that was going to comfort Cassandra, stopped and span around, with the back of the forearm facing the assailiant. Forcing it down, the (spikes?) on the side of Batman's gauntlet caught the staff and stopped it dead in it's tracks.

The eyes beneath the cowl locked with the eyes of Red Robin in one moment that would seem to go on forever.

"You've lost your edge." The signature low pitched voice that resembled a growl resonated from the Dark Knight's mouth. In that moment of shock that would probably esnare Tim's mind with shock, the Dark Knight pulled the staff and Red Robin forward, before he rather forcefully pushed his hand onto the head of Robin and flipped him over and onto his back in one fluid motion. He would land right next to Cassandra, joining her at the feet of their father. The move was not a harsh one, but merely intended to knock the anger out of the Wayne for a few moments so he could assess the situation. Extending the staff to his adopted son, he directed his low and growl-like voice to both members of the Wayne family. "I am alive. This was my way of showing you that." Obviously referring to the awesome fiery bat signal spread out across the tarmac of the streets below.

(Apologies for any God-Modding, Ger. Figured Tim would be too shocked at the voice to be able to react.)

[Batgirl]

She couldn't help herself. Cassandra Cain, the world's greatest living weapon, had been trained and raised by her birth father to have a heart encased in ice allowing her to mercilessly take out and eradicate the life of whatever target he designated for her to do so. While she managed to dodge that destiny of becoming a murderous ice queen, Cassandra still chose to try and keep her emotions in check and under wraps, only really letting herself the joy of being a teenager whenever Babs prodded her into doing so.Just as she was learning how to literally act her age, he vanished and now he was back.

Cassandra hated to let anyone ever see her vulnerable side, but at this moment, she didn't care. The months of stress and lament were washing themselves out through her eyes. Of course the tears didn't shut down her senses heightened by her training from her sperm donor, David Cain and her father, Bruce Wayne. The two Bats weren't alone, and another one of Gotham's caped crusaders came into view. Timothy Drake, whom had been there the moment Bruce accepted her as his daughter and the one in the Batfamily Cassandra had been the closest to aside from Bruce. The latter mentioned person's disappearance had put a strain on their relationship however, not from the start. She followed Tim to Jump City acting as one of his Titan's and to help him in the search for their father. Though when it seemed that Bruce was indeed gone, that was when their sibling bond had started to deteriorate. She had hardly spoken to the other Wayne in the last two months. Mainly the last session they exchanged words was due to Tim's injuries from the Joker but even after that, Cassandra kept her distance from Tim and continued with her own agenda. Just like Dick and Damien were distanced and acting as the new set of Gotham's dynamic duo..

"Tim, don't! It's-" well it seemed she didn't need to inform him of who it was with the actions that were executed by the man in the cowl. She only knew of very few people who could flawlessly disarm Tim mid attack without the aid of super powers. Then again, maybe even a rookie martial artist could have in the state of anger he had been in. It was always best to keep your mind clear and focused, never let your emotions drive your actions or it could be a death sentence in the heat of battle. Luckily it was just nothing but a little schooling from papa and Red Robin was thrown in place next to his sister at Bruce's feet. "You're supposed to be resting..." Cassandra murmured to her brother. He had nearly been killed by the Joker and playing hero and being tossed like a hacky sack was not going to help in the process of his healing. her eyes shutting once more. The tears had stopped, but she still felt that guilt, even more so now that Tim had arrived to discover that he was right and that she and Dick had given up hope on Bruce's survival. She owed both of them an apology. "Babs..." Cassandra uttered again. She had caught site of the former Batgirl on the sidewalk below as landed to this roof top. She had to get the news....and so did Dick and Damien, the Titans, the League...too much!Too much thinking, calm your ass down little bat. One step at a time.

>>"I am alive. This was my way of showing you that."

Well it would have been nice if he had shown it a little sooner. before she had started going back to wearing all black and withdrawing herself from the world, her team and even her own family. Those nightmares and sleepless nights...well, they would all come to an end now. Hopefully. "I should have kept searching..." her voice lacked emotion once more and her eyes glazed over as she stared up to leer into the night sky. A single tear flowed from her brown eye and coasted down the side of her cheek.

[drake]

“You’ve lost your edge.” It’s funny how four words could shake your entire world and make you lose whatever focus you’d managed to maintain. Four words - four simple words – and Tim Drake’s anger vanished in wake of surprise, and that cost him. His attack was effortlessly blocked, and he quickly found himself disarmed and thrown in rapid succession.

Such was Tim’s shock at hearing that voice – Bruce’s voice - he didn’t even feel it as he roughly hit the floor, although his injuries would make sure that he’d certainly pay for it later. Yet, as he lay there staring up at the night sky with an unfocused gaze, it was not relief , happiness, or several of other emotions he’d expected to feel at this particular moment at the return of his adoptive father . No, it was shame that welled up in Teen Wonder’s chest and threatened to overwhelm him.

Shame at the fact that he had indeed lost his edge over the last few months. Shame that he’d allowed himself to become too emotional, too angry over his inability to find his mentor and father figure. Shame that he’d been unable to even walk in the man’s shoes a small distance before stumbling and failing at the first block. Shame that he hadn’t been able to hold his extended family together. And finally, shame that, despite everything, he was a failure to the legacy of the man that stood over him this very instant.

“... I’m sorry...” He finally managed to choke out, the words sounding weak and hollow in his ears, but it was all he could muster up at the present moment. His eyes closed partially due to a growing need to fight back the tears he’d successfully held off in the many months of searching, and partially due to being unable to meet his mentor’s piercing gaze. When they opened again they weren’t the eyes of a hardened vigilante, but that of a scared teenager that had lost his way. “...I’m sorry...” He intoned again, once more without any strength behind the words. “...I’m sorry...”

[oracle]

There was a vast distance between the woman on the ground and the three on the rooftop. Normally, the red head would have bouts of feeling like an outcast in her old life. In away she was. The girl up there was now her and she was now down there. But seeing it in such clarity was a bit of a shock to the one formerly known as Batgirl. She used to be a part of that family, but then they drifted a part. She'd always considered herself a part of it still, to some extent. Usually when her services were needed. But the more she reflected on it, the more she had to wonder if she ever truly was. She felt more like the distant cousin that visited for reunions then the sister she always felt she was. It was a complete slap in the face and made her stop dead in her tracks.

It was Bruce, she knew in the very core of her it was. No one moved like anyone else and no one moved like him. There was relief that he was alive, though she didn't feel guilty for thinking he was dead. Even Alfred thought that. But then the anger started to bubble up deep within her. Anger at Bruce for not telling them he was back. Preferring to make a damn statement then to make sure his family was alright. Anger at Bruce for letting them think he was dead all this time. Anger at Bruce because she just knew those kids were torn up and he'd probably start lecturing them or some shit like that. Anger at Bruce for not staying dead. That thought stopped her and she had to blink back the tears. She didn't mean it, at least she was pretty sure she didn't. She thought she didn't mean it.

The red head dropped her head a she tried to gather her thoughts. There were too many things and she hadn't been getting enough sleep, or really eating much. Then there was the stuff with Dinah and what was going on with her. The merger with all these new people. "Get a grip, Babs. You've been through hell and back so many times they don't even ask for you damn passport." There was still chaos swarming around her with the fire of the batsignal and the cops with the crooks that she let the noise drown out her thoughts. She was Oracle damn it and she'd be damned if she was going to let this, of all things, put her down. Now she had to decide if she was going to keep going, or if she was going to man up and find away up to that rooftop. Part of her was afraid to, she wasn't sure what she'd say to him. If she'd say things that she didn't mean, or if.... She'd say things that she did mean.

[The Dark Knight]

No matter how strong-willed and emotionless Bruce was when he donned the Batsuit, nothing could have prepared him for the crushing feeling over his heart as two that he called his own kin, broke down literally at his feet. The realisation that he literally was that single beam supporting a roof weighing far more than any beam could possibly support. He was that single piece of bamboo in the fence that held it completely together and kept it stoic. He had seemingly lost his life, and it appeared that his children lost theirs as he had perished. What the hell was he thinking? The first thought on Bruce's mind when he returned was of the city, not of his family. How dare he forsake the people he had saved, the people that depended on him?

What Bruce did next was immensely significant.

Moving his hands to his cowl, he removed the headpiece of the batsuit; revealing a face that had endured many years of both physical and emotional torment. He was certain to make sure that none of the civillians on the road below could see his face, but a part of him ignored that; it was only his training and his instincts that told him otherwise. Still, the roof was high up, and they were at a angle that could only be seen from a particular point of view; probably from where Oracle was.

Placing the cowl down, he gently knelt down to the ground, directly in front of the two members of the batfamily. Reaching out one hand, he moved it across the face of Tim, whom was still lying on his back, obviously paralyzed by shock. His hand traced down across the side of his head and rubbed up and down slowly in one comforting motion. He could tell, just by loooking, that he was not at full strength; that he had suffered extensive injuries recently. Bruce expected anger, but nothing came, all that came was the need to comfort the lost young man. "It's alright..." It would seem probably increasingly gay what was happening, but that is a seriously immature way to look at it. This was Bruce showing a fatherly love to a broken and lost young man.

Then there was Cassandra, the girl deprived of all the feelings that a princess deserves. Reaching his other hand out, he moved it behind her head and slowly pushed her forward to his chest in a hugging motion. Gently resting her sobbing face against the cold chest of the batsuit, he lightly stroked her hair. "No matter what you two do, I will always be proud of you." Keeping his hands over his children, he sighed gently and looked up at the night sky. The night that he called home, the night filled with fear, terror and evil. Tonight wasn't filled with those demeanours; no, tonight was filled with nothing but warmth and affection.

Edit: Removed some unnecessary sizzle from the steak.

[Batgirl]

The cowl came off and the face that changed her life was exposed to the night air. Moments later, Cassandra would find herself in Bruce's embrace. The cold of his batsuit didn't phase her as she was pulled into his chest. She kept the same grief stricken expression and that same empty feeling remained despite her father's attempt to ease her pain.

"No matter what you two do, I will always be proud of you.""

She really didn't know whether to hug him or scream. Part of her was happy to have him back. I mean, she's spent the months he was missing in a permanent state of depression believing the best thing that's ever happened to her was gone. Now he was back...but the question was how long had he been back? The reports of two Batman's running around Gotham had her worried it was some nutjob taunting Dick, but it had been the true Bat. Why didn't he come to them immediately after returning? Bruce was selfless but selfish at the same time. Selflessness expressed in all he had taken on the mantle as Gotham's protector. Offering himself as a father figure and mentor to Dick, Barbara, Jason, Tim and then herself.

Of course while he had a caring heart, he still had his own demons that dwelt within. Sadly, it was the one thing she shared in common with him considering that they came from two completely different backgrounds. Sometimes in blind judgment, his fight against crime would get put first before the consideration of family...like what happened tonight. It pissed her off...but the anger would be suppressed for the moment and the little bat found her arms wrapping around Bruce's torso. Her head turned slightly to glance down at Tim, experiencing shock himself. Yeah, the two were going to be royally fucked up more than they already had been after tonight but for now, all that really mattered as that he had returned. So Cassandra's face fell back into her father's chest, she let out a sigh of irritation, but also mixed with a bit of relief. On the bright side, maybe this meant she could return home to the mansion. She was sick of the tower and always pulling out a milk carton with a drop of milk from the fridge because someone wanted to be a douche.

[drake]

The removal of the cowl was a shock, but made certain without a shadow of a doubt that this was indeed the man he’d come to see as a second father. Still, what happened next was almost an equal surprise. Genuine displays of affection from Bruce, while not totally unheard of, were few and far between. The man was by no means perfect, far from it, but the issues that Tim had with him seemed to melt away and seem less significant at the present moment. That wasn’t to say there were entirely gone, the two of them would have to sort them out in the coming days (especially the issue concerning the man’s idea to make Tim’s former girlfriend hire assassins to toughen him up), but for now he’d just concentrate on the fact that he was back... Although, it did raise several questions regarding how he was back.

The man’s words, however, did nothing to stem the feelings of disgrace, if anything seemed to throw salt on the raw wounds they left behind. He tentatively slid into a more upright position, once more trying to block out the waves of agony and nausea the simple action caused. Being slammed heavily into the floor, no matter how gentle Bruce had tried to make it, had taken its toll, effectively knocking any real remaining physical strength the Teen wonder had mustered up to search for his adoptive sister.

Still, as his jaw set and tightened to clamp down on any sound that hinted at his pain, moving further was the last thing on his mind at the present moment. No, instead his mind reined in onto the hows and whys of the man’s return. How did he get back? How long had he been back? Why had he chosen to reveal himself now? And, most importantly, why this way? It all seemed so... Overally dramatic to turn up and reveal that he was still alive this way of all ways, instead of simply contacting his children and extended family. Didn’t he know that they’d practically fallen apart since his departure? Didn’t he know all the pain, both physical and emotional, that they’d suffered? More and more questions buzzed around, one after the next, only achieving to turn the feelings of shame into anger rather than giving him any answers. Tim had always known that Bruce cared more about being Batman than he did people, but in a way this brought it on home.

“Why?” There was a now hardness in his voice demanded an answer, and a good one at that.

[oracle]

There was nothing for her here, she understood that now. At least that was what she believed. With her head down, the red head started to wheel down the sidewalk and back to her apartment. The hurt and the anger were bubbling up to the surface and she had to get out of there before she broke down completely. She was stronger than that and she wasn't going to do it. Not here at least. Maybe when she was alone in her apartment. She had to remember she made the decision to live in solitude for the most part. But sometimes the loneliness got to be a bit much.

"Get a grip, Babs, you made your bed now lie in it." With a sigh she left the area and left the family to work out their differences. If they needed she would be there, she always would and she hoped they knew that. The noise started to fade as she left the scene and never once looked back.