Had this idea that Bruce has this lake house somewhere in the woods, it's not a great imposing mass like the Manor, it's just a cabin but big enough to house the whole family if needed. It's the first property Bruce ever bought for himself and if he were to admit the truth, it's his favourite place to be but he can't stay there very often. It's the place he goes when he wants peace, when he really needs time alone, he's spent many a romantic weekend there. And he's taken the kids there from time to time and given them the keys. But they've never been there altogether.
Dick sometimes asks for the keys to get away for a while. Sometimes it's just him and Haley. He's been there on dates too or with his friends. But it's never the same as that one summer Bruce and he went, when Bruce and he swam in the lake every day, ate the fish they caught and hiked. Dick still remembers how sad he was when he woke up in the car at the end of the weekend in the car on the way home.
Jason rarely asks for the keys but sometimes he bikes up there to crash for a few days, sometimes to heal up or just to get away. He likes to read out on the dock or wander in the woods. But it's never the same as the first few summers by the lake when Bruce taught him how to swim and they went fishing.
Tim's used it a few times with the Titans and he's taken dates their for the weekend. His first proper kiss with Kon was at the end of the dock on 4th July weekend. Bruce stopped going up to the lake house after Jason died and Dick left. It was too hard sometimes so Bruce never really took Tim up there but he did go up there once to help Tim fix something and Bruce stayed for a few days. Tim thinks it's one of the first times he bonded with Bruce, not Batman.
Cass has been up there with the girls a few times but prefers to go up alone. She likes how peaceful it is, how she can drop her guard. But her favourite time was that first time when Bruce brought her up, when they filled the house with what she might need and left her with his number. It was the first time she was trusted to be by herself and do whatever she wanted. The lakehouse is a symbol of possibility for her.
Duke didn't want to go to the lakehouse at first, he's a city kid and there's fucking bugs everywhere on the lake and he wasn't sure about being around Bruce with nobody else to talk to. But it turns out the lakehouse is cool and Bruce is a lot easier to be around. The lakehouse is where Duke learns more about his powers and comes to term with what happened his parents. Some time outdoors, a long walk and words of somebody who lost his parents didn't heal him straight away but it helped.
Damian never wanted to go to some cabin in the woods. He's seen American horror movies and besides what so special about a hovel owned by his father? But Grayson takes him, much to his annoyance. Damian wants to escape, go follow the trail of some rogue but this seems to matter to Grayson. Damian loves walking through the woods, seeing the wildlife, learning about the medicinal plants. But it's never quite like the first time or the first time when Bruce came back, when Bruce spent the morning tossing him into the lake and pretending Damian could do the same.
They all love that lakehouse, it's their favourite home from home. No masks, no suits, just peace, the lake and the open air. Maybe one day they will get to be there together.
