Authorial note. This story was inspired by the "What if Batman And Superman were brothers?" short story and works off the same premise. I hope that this story lives up to the standard set by its predecessor. Unlike that story, though, I am not going to invent a new name (Shield) for Superman. Instead, I am going to plunder the Batman mythos... (evil laugh)

You'll know it when you reach it...

:-D

PS - All characters are owned by DC, all mistakes are mine.

Prologue

Part One -The Wayne twins

The car was driving along the back road towards the distant city, the couple in the back relaxing as their chauffeur expertly guided the car back towards their home. The man in the back gently rubbed his wife's swollen abdomen and gazed lovingly into her eyes, a gaze which was returned in full.

"Back still aching?" he asked, his voice full of sympathetic amusement and the chauffeur hid a smile as the woman nodded, nestling further into her husband's shoulder.

"What the!"

At their chauffeur's exclamation, both of the passengers jolted upright, the woman barely suppressing a wince as she did so, and their gazes snapped round, then up at where something was heading towards them, wreathed in flames. With reflexes born of combat, the chauffeur spun the wheel, sending the car off the road and through the field, his eyes fixed on the incoming projectile, assessing and calculating its path. Slamming the brakes, he spun the car round and glanced back.

"Sir, ma'am, you may wish to duck."

The couple glanced at him, then the man pulled the woman down as the object zoomed by, the wash from its passage rocking the car, then it impacted on the small pond at the end of the field. As the steam rose, the woman gasped and clutched at her stomach.

"He's coming..."

The chauffeur got out of his door and pulled the man out of the way. "Sir, we won't reach a hospital in time but if you remember..."

"You were trained in first aid. Yes, Alfred." the man said, moving to the boot. "Martha, let Alfred help, I'll make sure that whatever that thing was, it isn't a threat."

Martha nodded, then started to take deep breaths as the man opened the boot and extracted a torch and crowbar. Moving through the thickening fog and trying to concentrate despite the cries behind him, he stepped to the edge of the now-lower pond and shone the torch slowly across.

"What is that?"

Moving to the odd shape, he frowned at the strange symbols on the side. "Not Russian or Japanese... in fact, I've never seen anything like that."

Moving round, he reached out and carefully tapped the odd thing, then placed his hand against it when he realised that despite having been wreathed in fire a mere minute ago, it was cool enough to touch. Running his fingers along the thing, searching for a seam or hatch, he didn't notice for a few seconds the glow trailing behind his fingers, then it intensified and formed an outline, then a solid diamond-shape which vanished leaving an opening into a small, fabric lined chamber, one which was occupied.

x

"Sir? Mr Wayne? Thomas!"

"I'm here."

"Congratulations, sir." Alfred said, smiling. "It's a boy."

"More than that." Thomas said, looking down at the small shape in his arms. "Martha? You know how you said that if a miracle somehow happened and we had another child, we should name him after my father?"

Martha nodded, somehow looking beautiful despite the fact that her clothes were rumpled and she was dishevelled. Thomas looked at the small boy cradled lovingly in her arms.

"I think a miracle has happened." Thomas said, extending his burden. "I think our Bruce will indeed have a brother."

"Sir..?"

"Alfred, we'll head back to the mansion, then you and I are returning with the lorry." Thomas said, glancing back to the shape in the pond. "I want to know who would place a baby in that thing, and we need to get it somewhere secure before anyone else stumbles across it."

"I... very good, sir. And your son?"

Thomas looked into the car and smiled at the sight of Martha cradling both small boys."

"My sons, Alfred. Bruce and Clark."

"I see, sir." Alfred said, smiling slightly. "Then shall we go?"

Part Two Childhood Adventures

"Bruce, wait up!"

"Come on, Clark!"

The two seven-year-old boys halted by an old, dry well, and Clark watched as his brother started to move the planks covering it.

"Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"I saw bats flying out of it." Bruce said with a grin. "There must be a cave down there, it'll be a really good den!"

Clark nodded and unwrapped the knotted rope he had slung over one shoulder, then started to look through the bag Bruce had carried.

"Torches, water... string?"

"So we don't get lost." Bruce said, finishing moving the planks and looking down the well. Picking up a small stone, he dropped it.

"One, two."

The sound of the stone hitting the bottom sounded before Bruce had finished the second word and his eyes glinted. "See, plenty of rope. Help me tie it."

Together they tied the rope to a nearby tree and dropped the other end into the well. Bruce shone the torch into the well and they smiled as they saw the final few meters lying on the stone below. Without a word, Bruce picked up his bag, slung it on his back and started to climb down while Clark watched. When he reached the bottom, he waved and Clark climbed down to join him, accepting and switching on the second torch.

"Look, the cave goes towards the house!"

Bruce nodded and moved forwards, Clark close behind him. They silently made their way through the short, narrow passage, then Bruce gasped as the torchlight was swallowed by the cavern in front of them.

"Wow! Look at this, Clark! It's huuuuuuuuuge!"

Clark nodded, playing his torch around the walls, then he frowned.

"There's a path, there. And it goes... there's an arch there!"

Bruce nodded slowly. "I think... I think that's the foundation. Our house is above the cave! Hey, there's light there, must be another entrance, let's go!"

Together, the two boys moved down the narrow path around the edge of the deep cave, moving towards the bricks ahead of them. As they reached the first of the brick arches, Bruce stopped dead and Clark almost bumped into him.

"And how did you get here?"

Clark peered round the suddenly-stiff body of his brother and his eyes widened at the sight of his father and a black-skinned man he had never seen before looking at them from the middle of a smooth, well-lit area liberally strewn with tools, noteboards, desks and pieces of equipment. For only a few moments, he could only stare, then he sighed.

"We're dead."

"No, you're not." their dad laughed as he walked over to them. "Welcome to my secret lab, but it's a secret. How did you get here?"

"Probably the old well." the dark-skinned man laughed as he walked over to a small tap in the corner and reached into a cupboard. Producing two glasses, he filled them with water and carried them over to where Bruce and Clark were staring at him. "Here, have a drink and relax. You're not in trouble. I'm Lucius, your dad's friend, and when you've had a drink, I'll show you how we're going to change the world, and then we'll head up for tea. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get hungry."

Thomas laughed as his sons accepted the proffered drinks. "Come on,. you two. Maybe you can help."

Part Three News Stories

"Our main story tonight. Gotham City was rocked to its core by the murder of noted philanthropist and inventor Thomas Wayne, as well as his wife, Martha Wayne, in the area of Gotham known as Crime Alley. Thomas Wayne, founderand primary researcher of WayneTech, made his name singlehandedly revolutionising society with his inventions and discoveries. From room-temperature superconductors which allowed for the creation of the first practical MagLev trains to his overseeing the creation of advanced computational frames utilising special crystal-based technology, allowing households to have computers of power that had previously been limited to governments and corporations, to new sensor devices which have revolutionised medicine, allowing doctors to view the double-helix which is the basis of life, Thomas Wayne was the man who single-handedly allowed us a chance to live in a world which our parents could not have recognised. Awarded six Nobel Prizes for his services to science, Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha are survived by their twin eight-year-old sons, Bruce and Clark Wayne, who are surrently in the care of their Butler, Alfred Pennyworth..."

x

"Welcome to Gotham Tonight. Tonight marks the first anniversary of the deaths of Gotham's First Couple, Thomas and Martha Wayne. A police spokesman has confirmed that despite the intensive inquiry which was undertaken, they still have no leads on who was responsible for this terrible deed. At a press conference today, Lucius Fox, acting CEO of Waynetech, expressed his continuing regret at the untimely deaths of two of his best friends..."

x

"This is Gotham News. Today the police have formally discontinued their investigation into the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne two years ago. In a statement made to the press, Commissioner Rogress declared that as no new evidence has surfaced, the case will be put on hold until further notice. The murder shocked all of Gotham and some say that it heralded the rise in crime which..."

x

"I am Jack Ryder and you are wrong!

Why? Because you believe that the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne five years ago no longer matters, that it has no effect on you.

Well, you are wrong!

Thomas Wayne single-handedly revolutionised the electronics industry with his introduction of crystalline molecular circuitry, the room-temperature superconductor... what could he have done had he not been killed? By now, we could have been flying around with jetpacks and driving our hovercars, using environmentally-friendly energy!

And how much have we progressed since his death? Barely a few paces compared to the giant leaps he gave us!

Still think that their murder no longer matters? Well, you are wrong!"