Chapter Text
~POV: Third person~
One day, it was a normal Tuesday morning, the league was having a meeting about their recent mission. Bruce was mentally and physically tired, he hadn't slept for days and hadn't eaten proper nutritional food. The meeting was awfully wrong due to Clark yapping about Lex Luthor again, thankfully Diana managed to snap him out of the trance and he adjourned the meeting.
Bruce dragged his body to the zeta tube and zeta'd to the batcave, he walked towards the heart of the cave. He took off his cowl and tossed it onto a nearby desk, he rubbed his eyes with a hand before he looked up, seeing his kids lounging in the cave and still in uniform—meaning they just came back from patrol.
"Reports about patrol."
Bruce mumbled as he walked to the batcomputer and turned it on, the kids for some reason didn't answer—they seemed to have ignored his question. Jason sat on one of the desks, eating a granola bar and watching the rest of his siblings. Dick and Cass were sparring and Damian was looking over a map on the wall.
"Kids? Report." Bruce repeated, pulling the chair of the batcomputer out and sitting on it. He waited for an answer... Only to receive none, confused, Bruce looked over his shoulders, his kids were here so why won't they answer him? Jason finished the granola bar and tossed the wrapped into the trash, Dick and Cass had ended sparring with Cass getting the upper hand over Dick and Damian was still looking at the map.
"Did you all not hear me? I said report." Bruce slightly raised his voice, maybe they didn't hear him? Jason let out a sigh that almost sounded annoyed and rubbed his temple, Dick's eyes narrowed slightly at Bruce while Cass' expression remained unreadable. Damian finally turned from the map with an annoyed scowl.
"Oh NOW you want us to report? Where was this energy when we needed you last night?" Jason scoffed out his response, "Always too busy to answer the damn phone..." Dick muttered under his breath in annoyance, "Father, your absence is becoming habitual." Damian blurted out coldly. A tense silence filled the cave as Bruce froze in place, revealing they were all speaking at once for once—united in their frustration. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath before exhaling slowly. He knew he couldn't deny what they were saying, it was true, he had been neglecting his presence with them all lately, the weight of being batman and the Justice League combined was getting heavier with each passing day.
"The JLA has been getting more busy with bugger missions." Bruce managed to say through his gritted teeth, Jason's expression darkened, Dick let out a bitter laugh while Cass' hands clenched into fists; Damian scowled at Bruce's excuse. Jason got off of the desk and took a step forward towards Bruce, his voice low.
"Oh nooo, the goody Justice League needs you more than your own kids!" Jason mocked Bruce's tone, "You know what? I'm done with this." Dick turned on his heel and headed for the stairs. Cass suddenly threw her mask at Bruce, not to hurt him but to force eye contact as she signed rapidly:
"You promised." She signed before following after Dick up the stairs. Bruce's grip tightened on the console's side, he understands their anger while they think he doesn't. Yesterday's JLA space mission had done a more lethal effect on Bruce but he hadn't told his family, specifically Alfred because he didn't want to worry more about them—They're already busy and had more things to focus on than him. Jason clenched his jaw, the tension palpable in the arm. Damian folded his arms across his chest, his expression a mix of anger and disappointment. He was clearly waiting for a response from Bruce, a proper justification for why he hadn't been there when they needed him. Damian though he tried to hide it, couldn't fully contain his hurt.
Bruce tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke again, "It's not like I'm choosing the Justice League to neglect you all. The League's responsibilities weigh heavily upon—" Jason interrupted Bruce without a second thought. "Oh, so it's always about the Justice League, huh? It's never about us first." Jason huffed out a bitter laugh, Dick who had paused at the top of the stairs, spoke up, his voice taut with resentment. "That's all you care about. Your precious JLA, your crusade. We're just an afterthought."
The pang in Bruce's heart grew, that can't possibly what they think they are, right? Every single minute and second, they will always be on his mind—even while fighting through enemies, he still thinks of them. He fights because he has a purpose and that purpose is for his kids to know that he'll be alive and not dead.
"No... No, you kids aren't an afterthought." Bruce's voice cracked slightly—something rare, something that made all three of them freeze. Dick's eyes widened, Damian stiffened as if expecting a lie, Jason exhaled sharply through his nose.
"Then what are we? Because we sure as hell doesn't feel like you give a damn." Jason retorted, a bit of hurt slipping through his voice, Dick turned back around, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, prove it then. Since when doesn't Batman apologize?"
A beat of silence—because they were right. "Father.." Damian muttered under his breath. Bruce sucked in a breathe, how could his kids think like this? "Batman doesn't apologize... I'm not Batman right now, I am Bruce Wayne." Bruce finally responded, they all froze—that was clearly not what any of them expected to hear. Dick and Jason looked at one another in suprise, Damian's expression shifted back to cautious skepticism, his eyebrows furrowed as if searching his father's eyes for something; maybe some kind of lie—some kind of deceit.
"What, you're suddenly not Batman because we called you out on ditching your damn responsibilities?" Jason scoffed, Bruce's jaw set, his gaze hardened, then his shoulders dropped somewhat. Before Bruce could get another word out, the others are already leaving him, they all went up to the manor. Bruce watched as his kids left the cave without another word, the silence that replaced their angry voices were eerily heavy. He leaned against the console, shutting his eyes tightly as he replayed the conversation in his mind over and over again, they were angry, hurt; betrayed—and he knew they had every right to feel that way. He had failed them. Again. Bruce let out a heavy sigh, running a weary hand down his face. He was tired.. physically, emotionally and mentally tired.
Suddenly his monitor began blaring... Another one of the JLA's alert, why can't these native beings just stay out of earth? Bruce forced himself up and grabbed his cowl before going to the batmobile. The batmobile roared to life as Bruce revved the engines, He was exhausted, his mind weighed down by the recent argument with his kids. But he couldn't let his personal issues distract him. He had a job to do, he hit the accelerator and sped off, the tired screeching against the road.
Bruce tried to push his kids from his mind as he weaved through traffic, heading towards the location that Clark had sent him.