#pain.

Bannerfall is killing me btw

A week later.

Richard

He honestly didn't even know what he wanted coming here,he had said everything he had to say to his father the last time he came around.

There was yelling,like always, hurtful words,he kept telling himself all those months he was just matching Bruce's energy

But in reality,he was a coward.

His mind kept nagging at him to check on Bruce,to apologize,to ask how his day was or how was patrol and if Gotham was finally free from the years of crime like everyone kept saying around Blüdhaven,in whispered prayers that the same thing happened in their town too.

But he didn't,he's a coward.

He didn't sent a text on mother's day,it was a stupid tradition anyways,a tradition made when he was young and stupid after reading a book about Gotham and learning about the infamous 'Mother Gotham' and how it 'Protected the city like it was their own flesh'he still remembers the way Bruce smiled at him when he gave him a small cupcake(way too salty to be good) and a dumb card,that soft smile he thought no one noticed.

Like he said,dumb tradition that went long enough.

The house was awfully dirty,there was dust everywhere and it looked like it went abandonedHe knew that it didn't,the paparazzi wouldn't live it down if Bruce did move out.

But it was still a mess,he knew the old bat had paranoia problems but not even calling a cleaning lady to do the job for a couple of hundreds?That is a new low.

"Bruce?Old man?" He said to the empty mansion,it didn't answer back, something in his gut said it never would but he pushed it down way to quickly to actually mean something.

He moved through the house in sections,the living room, dinning rooms,private areas, random rooms he had no idea what existed for"Not on the first floor then huh?" He thought exasperated, quickly making his way upstairs,he made that path so many times he could've done without eyesight.

"That's the last time you're doing it." The small voice in his mind said,he quickly erased the thought,he wasn't there to bring the mood down,he was going to apologize,help the old man clean the house and find a good maid/Butler and go back to the comfort of his routine.

When he got upstairs he felt it, something was different,he looked around and his eyes fell into a family portrait of an old lady, Bruce's great-grandmother from generations of generations,her portrait was off the wall, leaving a small gap that was completely empty.

His stomach turned,he remembered what was on that wall, a derringer pistol,he remembered Bruce telling him the story about it,the old hag was the only woman in the Wayne lineage,hated by all,ended her own life using a pistol she found on her daddy's locker.Apparently her dumb son thought it was noble to put up a portrait of her and hide her gun behind it.

In case someone needed it again.

Was Bruce in danger?Was someone else in this house?

He started frantically opening rooms,by the third empty he was checking to see where Bruce was on his tracker

The trackers Bruce purposely put into all of their spines as a way to make sure they're safe.

It showed he was down the hall.On his parents room.Bruce never,in all the years he lived with him,entered that room,he said it was full of memories he was not ready to rediscover yet.

When did he realized he was ready?

Richard ran and open the door of the last room off the corridor

"Bruc-" the smell hit him first,like a pile of meat got left into a open room to chill and got forgotten.

He never liked comparisons much.

The second thing that he noticed was Bruce, laying peacefully on the bed,like he just went to take a big nap.If it wasn't for the smell,for the putrid liquids going out of his eyes and nose,and of course,the giant hole on the back of his head, probably made,no definitely made,with a palm pistol

A derringer pistol.

"Dad.." He said breathless,tears dropping to his shoes

When did he started crying?

He approached the bed,he felt like a little kid again, approaching his dead parents body like they were going to disappear if he moved too fast,and that moment he never wished more for Bruce Wayne to come rushing down to hug him and tell him he was going to be okay.

Because Bruce Wayne was the one Infront of him now.

No one was going to pick up the pieces.

He touched the older man's face,it was old and wrinkle,cold like ice,it made Grayson feel disgusted

Bruce wasn't supposed to be like thisHe was supposed to smile at seeing him arrive, probably with a helper or two, taking care of his meals and being an actual old grumpy man.

He wasn't supposed to be a dead body on a two dead person's room.

He didn't had that right to leave them.

His tears felt harder,he was full on wailing and sobbing

He wanted his papa,his dad.

Why couldn't he just wake up?..

[...]

The funeral was a small thing,most of the invites went unopened.

Or opened but they just didn't want to come.

Bruce's will was very specific about where he wanted to be buried, between his parents,like it always should've been.

Like it wasn't supposed to be.

Richard vomited twice during the preparations,the lawyers spoke with calm precises tones to divide everything Bruce owned, everything that was his father's,that he wanted to cry,to punch that man in the face and tell him his dad was going to wake up soon.

"He would be proud of you for keeping your cool" his inter voice said,it sounded disgustingly like Bruce,and he despised it for that.He never cried as much as he did that day,when Bruce Wayne got buried to the ground,like all those years were just stupid memories he made with them.

He had so much to beg his father for.

He had to check up on everyone,hold the points together,he hated this

He hated that Bruce wasn't here anymore.

He wanted his dad.

Jason

12 broken ribs,not his of course,this stupid serial killer that thought he knew better than the hands of justice.

Although he didn't even know what justice meant anymore.

He didn't went to the old man's funeral,he couldn't,he knew Bruce wanted to go back to his parents, that was a selfish reasoning they both had in common for their unhealthy tendencies,he knew that if he did went,he would find the first Lazarus pit and throw the bat inside it,and then punch and kick him for ever thinking about doing something like that.

The man whimpered on the ground,Jason kicked him straight on the balls making him yowl in pain.

Why was his screaming?He deserved this shit.

He pulled out his gun(trying not to think too hard about how a gun like this had taken his mentor away from him,just a different type of pistol) and pointed straight into the man's head

"wait dude wait!I was just- Dude please!I can change!I have a daughter alright? Don't you assholes believe in change or some shit like that?Give me something" The man rambled,his hands up in the sky like it was going to mean something

It never meant anything

Jason felt his anger start to bubble inside him,the nerves getting to him

His tears blurring his eyes.It was stupid,this pitiful act he seen thousand times before,a couple of times this pass week,but this time it got to him different.

Bruce would believe this man could change.

Why?Such an excuse for a human being,why would Batman think of him as someone worthy of another chance to do better?

"The man that would forgive you is 6 foot underground,dead." He said, pulling the trigger.

For the first time in days he wept,for the man that always forgave him no matter what,for the man that held his shit together,for the man he never showed enough trust to forgive again.

Hell his last words to the man were "You're an asshole",he didn't even know that would be the last thing he would said to him,to his dad.

If he did,he would've hugged him,begged him not to leave,to just stay a bit more.

For him,for them.

MY GOSH WASN'T THAT SOMETHING HA! Anyways here's part two, exactly a week later(totally intentional,I had to do research for this)

If you ask yourself "where's all the others?" Well I'll have you know dear reader, BRUCE WAYNE HAS 6 FUCKIN KIDS AND ASSOCIATES. ITS TOO MANY PEOPLE.

so here's a resume on what's going on with everyone I guess:

Dick→ thinks he's holding everyone together but in reality he's crying while laying in bed eating pizza,the manor went into his name and he buried the batcave down(don't worry it was bat-less) and build a orphanage full with medical wing and school inside the property.

Jason→ he's the one taking care of the few dumb criminals that are still trying to mess up Gotham,crime in the city is basically nonexistent,other than that he's doing shitty

Tim→ Moved out of Gotham,administrates the Drake empire from out of state,he couldn't deal with being on the same city knowing he couldn't safe Bruce.

Cass→ wanted to cremate Bruce and take some of his ashes to put into a necklace for keepsake,but her idea got denied,she's taking care of the Wayne empire making sure it's smooth and strong,other than that she has constant hallucinations of her papa,and she cries a lot that she will never get to hug him again,but she's healing slowly.

Duke→ he went to live with his uncle full time,he's still learning how to deal with the grief and it's taking off on kids in his class,he's getting into a lot of fights

Damian→ Moved out of Gotham to go to medical school,Titus became his support dog without meaning to,he cries a lot when he thinks no one is looking,and he also at night before going to bed tells his day out loud for his father,it helps him feel better.

That's a big resume,but yeah,it took me way too long to write all of this,but it was so worthy, Bruce is with his mama again everyone!

Part 2 of my mother's day fic btw(check this link if you want to see the whole deal: https://www.tumblr.com/lilyshootingstarr/816242416292184064/maybe-it-always-supposed-to-feel-like-this-bruce?source=share)

Some people that wanted to be tagged:

@whatamisupposedtotyphere , @javieyau

@nikiexe0 , @cloudy-skys-9 (yes for incredible as it sounds you wrote your comment at the moment I was posting this lmao)