End Days Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own DC.

Batcave, July 4, 6:00 pm

Dick sighed as Damian 't-t'ed behind him.

"Damian, I'm not asking you to cut off a tow or anything."

"I'd rather you do that than ask me to go to this party!"

"Think of it as a mission."

"Grayson, I am insulted by this mission."

"Damian, you will go to this part or I will not let you patrol for a week!" Dick spun in his chair, giving Damian a look that said, while in good humor, he meant what he would follow through with his threat. Damian huffed.

"Why must I go, and you not?" Damian's tone was whiny.

"You're too old to whine." Dick sighed. He didn't want to tell Damian.

"You're meeting Kane?" The was a whole minute of silence before Damian 't-t'ed again and stormed towards the zeta tubes.

"It isn't what you think, Damian!" Dick finally responded. Damian stopped before typing in his code.

"What is it, then?" Damian's tone was accusatory. Dick turned in his chair so he could look down at Damian who was waiting by the zeta tubes.

"It's progress." Dick said. Damian, for just a second, looked hurt. He hardened his face and typed in his code.

"Come to the party. Your old friends haven't seen you in almost two years." Damian disappeared through the zeta tubes. Dick leaned back in his chair. A quick glance at his computer told him he had an hour to get to his meeting point with Kathy Kane, The Batwoman.

Cassandra Cain placed a hand on Dick's shoulder, making him jump. She was one of the few who could sneak up on Richard Grayson. Dick looked over his shoulder and into her silent, black eyes. She looked so solemn. She had lost her ability to speak two years ago from a head injury. She had also been saved by Jason two years ago and brought into the batfamily. Never had Dick seen Batman trust someone so quickly. It had almost made him jealous.

"He doesn't understand." Dick said. Cassandra tilted her head. She then leaned forward to kiss Dick's forehead.

"He thinks I'm involved with Kane, but I'm not!" Dick protested. Cassandra rolled her eyes. She then gestured to herself, and made a gesture to show something shorter than herself. This was usually how she referred to Damian. Cassandra then put a hand over her heart, and moved the same hand to cover Dick's heart. Then, Cassandra smacked the back of Dick's head.

"Hey! I get it! He's jealous! We really need to jumpstart your sign language lessons." Dick said. Cassandra rolled her eyes again. Then, in perfect sign language said,

"Idiot. Go to your date. I'll go to the party." Dick laughed. He knew Cassandra knew sign language. He had helped Jason teach the girl.

"Enjoy the party." He called to the girl as she slipped through shadows to the zeta tubes. He was glad she was going. HE knew she wouldn't have considered going unless Jason was going.

Dick frowned. He wanted to see Jason as well. He hadn't spoken to the rogue Bat for a year and a half. Ever since…

Dick tried to dig himself out of dark thoughts, but thinking of his estrangement to Jason reminded him of Tim. He hadn't seen Tim for about a year either. To have two of his brothers run from him just six months apart. It hurt.

Who would have thought Bruce's death could have been so disastrous?

As if to rub in his guilt and despair, a familiar voice called down into the cave.

"Anyone left?" It could have been Bruce, but Bruce never called out in such a manner. Then, Bruce Wayne followed his greeting into the cave.

Except it wasn't Bruce Wayne.

It was Brian Moore [1]. And Dick's greatest nightmare.

"Ah! Richard! You're down here!" Brian's voice was too happy. It gave Dic ka headache.

I've been Batman too long. Dick thought.

"Yes, Brian." Brian frowned. He had had thousands of dollars of plastic surgery to be identical to Bruce Wayne. He had been parading around town as the White Knight of Gotham. Selina had found him first, and dragged him bruised and bleeding to Dick and Damian. He had convinced Dick that he should continue to do what he was doing to fool the public that Bruce was still around. Dick had painfully agreed because how else were they to explain Bruce's unexplained disappearance? Especially so soon after Bruce Wayne's will and fortune distribution showed up in the public newspaper?

"It's Bruce, my dear boy!" Brian insisted. Dick ground his teeth. Brian had started trying to treat the people living in the mansion as Bruce might have, but he was a horrible Bruce impersonator at home. Dick was mildly glad for that. Had Brian acted like Bruce at home, Dick might have never gotten over his grief of his mentor's, and father's death. He might be like Tim.

Tim. Dick rubbed a hand over his face as Brian started playing with his hair.

Note to self, hair is too long again… Dick had finally started regularly cutting his hair because if it got to long, Brian began playing with it. It was infuriating.

"Are you going out?" Brian asked. Dick stood quickly.

"Yes, as are you. There is a party at the Tipton[2] Inn. Go and hang out, drink, be merry." Dick ordered. Brian smiled too big and hugged Dick. Dick loved hugs. Dick hated Brian. Dick especially hated Brian hugs. It always left him conflicted and usually Dick would hug Damian afterwards.

That option is gone. Dick thought as Brian pranced away to prepare for his party.

"Maybe I should hit the party." Dick mumbled, pulling up his cowl. He sighed as he fled the cave. The cave had too many memories, but there was no where else to work. Dick hated the cave with the glass cases of the old costumes. Dick hated being Batman. Dick hated Bruce for dying. Dick hated Black Glove for killing Bruce. Dick hated himself for not being there to help Batman. Dick hated how Jason had gone crazy when Batman died. Dick hated how Tim had broken down when Bruce died. Dick hated Talia for abandoning her child. Dick hated how Barbra could be so calm a collected. Dick hated Brian and his mockery of what Bruce was. Dick hated the world that always wanted to screw him.

But Dick loved his family. He loves his friends. And he understood how Bruce had loved Gotham. So Dick would break Bruce's request that he not be Batman. He would break his own pensive thoughts about being Batman. Dick would be Batman for all of them. Because the world needed a Batman.

Damian arrived at the party and hovered by the zeta tubes. He was correct in assuming someone would arrive soon after him. He would never admit how relieved he was when it was Cassandra. He found it strange how he had spent two years in the batfamily, with Bruce, but had never fit in until Bruce had died and Dick stood up to lead the family. At first it was horrible. Jason had left, then Tim had left. Stephanie had run to Barbra, Cassandra stayed, but really only worked through Barbra. The imposter had been allowed to live. And Damian had watched Dick rebuild the family after it had burned to ashes.

Damian knew about many different regions legends. He also believed in auras and spirit animals. He wouldn't be surprised if Dick was a phoenix. Dick could take anything, and one he finally broke, he just rebuilt, stronger and more determined.

Damian felt bad at how reluctant he had been to help Dick. How insulting he was to his mentor. Nothing had been easy for Dick these past five years.

First, the Invasion caused Dick to discover the dark part of himself, and he had never been able to quite bury it again. Then, when Dick's friends left him, his world was turned upside down with rumors of his family. Then Dick had suffered in his own city under the bitch Tarantula, though for some reason Dick always defended her saying 'she had her reasons.' Next, Dick's life had fallen apart as an old flame, and his supposedly dead cousin appeared and tried to kill him along with a cult. Damian shivered. That had been a bad night for everyone. Just two weeks after recovering from that, Bruce had gone and died. Damian knew everyone in his family was ashamed on how they reacted. It had been bloody. Jason ran off with Arsenal. Tim ran off to follow some damn theory that was impossible; and Dick… Dick had stayed. Dick became Batman.

Everyone knew Dick never wanted to be Batman.

At first it had been infuriating to Damian, but over the past two years of working with him, Damian couldn't be happier. Damian was proud at how much he helped Dick. At first Dick had kept passing out form exhaustion, and getting injuries as he adjusted his fighting style and watching out for Damian. But now, the two were a well oiled machine. They hardly ever bickered,

But Dick was still a stubborn ass.

"Damian!" Damian 't-t'ed as Wally handed him juice.

"West." He sneered.

"Friendly as ever!" Wally beamed. Artemis, in her uniform, was behind Wally.

"Stopping being an idiot, West!" Damian growled. Cassandra placed a placating hand on Damian's shoulder. Damian calmed.

"Dick coming?" Wally asked hopefully. Damian just 't-t'ed and Cassandra shook her head.

"Shame." Wally said, dropping his head.

"Is Richard coming?" A beautiful woman with luscious black hair falling around her shoulders called across the room. A good majority of the party guests turned to look.

"Not this time either, Donna." Wally replied. Donna frowned and swirled the wine in her glass.

"They would have never hooked up." Damian grumbled under his breath. Artemis snorted into her glass of juice.

"Kid, they have. And they will again." She said. Damian huffed. He knew. Sometime last year Dick had felt he could take a little 'me-time'. His personal time lasted for a day before a miniature crisis popped up and he had to rush back to Gotham. Damian had never really wanted to know what Dick had done in those 24 hours.

"Damian!" Jason's boisterous voice called over the pulsing music.

"Todd." Damian growled. Jason wrapped an arm around Cassandra waist, just to get judo flipped.

"Hey, darling." Jason said softly, almost tenderly. Cassandra nodded and let the rogue bat stand.

"Why are you here?" Damian asked. Jason turned away, but the two pricks of color on his cheeks gave him away.

"Angry Batman told me to come." He grumbled. "Then Arsenal felt we needed to respect the wishes of his wet dreams."

"Todd!" Arsenal whacked Jason with his hat. Arsenal was blushing fiercely. Of course Roy Harper, the clone, had to show up at that moment.

"I'll admit, if I was to sleep wit ha dude, it would be Dick." Roy laughed at his joke as Artemis and Wally smacked him. Arsenal was still flushing.

"How's the brat?" Jason asked, rubbing his head. Roy smiled.

"Jade's watching Lian tonight. Also your kids too, right Wally?" Roy asked. Wally nodded. He had to pull out his wallet and show off his two kids. His eldest son was a blondey like his mom, but the younger son showed off Wally's red hair.

"Babies are entirely too troublesome." Damian scoffed.

"They are." Artemis agreed.

"So, Dick coming?" Roy asked.

"No." Damian grumbled.

"What!" Jason and Arsenal cried out. Jason in anger and Arsenal in disappointment.

"Don't be so loud." A new voice cut in."

"Tim." Artemis greeted. The second runaway Bat was standing proudly, but a little ways off from the group.

"Replacement! Glad to see you're back!" Jason teased.

"You too." Tim replied coldly. Roy, Arsenal, Cassandra, Damian, Wally, and Artemis took a step back. IF these two broke into a fight, they really didn't want to be a part of it. The two hot-heads somehow kept their cools and coldly traded pleasantries.

"I'm going to smash Dick's face in when I see him for tricking me into coming here." Jason said.

"I think for once we can agree on something. "Tim responded.

"Think we could sneak into the manner and fill his pillow with mud?"

"I think Alfred would have an aneurism."

"Then how can we get the bastard back?"

"Tell him Babs is willing to make up again?"

"Then Babs would be mad at us."

"Get her in on it?"

"Maybe. Maybe. Replacement, you can be devious." Everyone could feel the evil aura radiating off the two angry bats.

"He wouldn't listen to you at this moment, he's meeting Kane." Damian broke in. Jason and Tim stopped their plotting.

"Kathrine Kane?" Tim clarified. Damian nodded.

"The bitch who pranced around as Batwoman and Bats made her retire?" Damian nodded again, but he had a confused look on his face. Jason noticed it. "It's a pretty funny story." He added on.

"I wanna hear it!" Bart burst his head in. The Bats noticed that the room was watching them banter.

"Dick's with somebody new? Again?" Raven asked. She stood a little too close to Beast Boy, but the green teen didn't seam to mind. Donna frowned.

"He isn't…romantically with here." Damian was flustered slightly. It amused his 'brothers' to see how Damian really couldn't handle talking to girls and he lived with Dick.

"I thought he couldn't stand her." Tim said. Damian scowled. He could definitely speak with Drake.

"You've been gone." Damian snarled.

"I had my reasons!" Tim snapped. Damian was ready for a fight though.

"Dick says Tarantula had her 'reasons'. Dr. Freeze had his 'reasons'. Talia had her 'reasons'! Look where their reasons left them!" Each person Damian named gave Damian's voice more venom.

"Guys!" Wonder Woman walked in through the doorway. "This is a party! Why the hell must you three always start a fight!" She barked. Tim was the only one to look ashamed. Wonder Woman looked around. "Where is Batman?" She asked. Everyone ignored the slight pause before she said Batman. Dinah appeared behind Diana. She frowned when she heard the name 'Batman'.

"He is meeting someone in Gotham." Damian said. Wonder Woman looked around the room.

"M'gann, Conner, Raquel, Kaldur, Zatanna, Wally and Artemis: I'm giving you guys a mission. Grab Batman and drag his stubborn ass here." Wonder Woman held no humor in her eyes. She was serious.

"We're going!" M'gann shouted in happiness. Grabbing Conner first, M'gann made her way through the room grabbing the named people as she got closer to the zeta tubes.

"Shouldn't we go?" Jason asked.

"I want to go." Arsenal and Roy piped in. Tim and Damian nodded in agreement.

"No. You will enjoy this party." Wonder Woman's voice was dangerous. Everyone just nodded.

Well, Not the best beginning. Sorry.

1- I just took two of the Batman writer's names and mashed them together. But I know there was a miny arc thing where a guy made himself look like Bruce Wayne. I'm pretty sure Selina Kyle caused his death. Anyway, I'm playing around with that.

2- Suite Life of Zach and Cody reference. Just cause.

Please review!

Love,

Burning Bright