Chapter Two: Speaking with the Dead

            In Cadmus, making a mistake would lead to punishment. Make a big enough mistake you’d be disposed of. Even so, it still doesn’t change the fact Cadmus was the first place where he was taught and raised. One cannot simply just toss away what they learned with the flick of a wrist.

He always thought there was nothing after death. Cadmus never bothered with philosophy or spiritual needs. All they needed was obedience and nothing else. Yet, when he left Cadmus, he learned about religion, about beliefs and about theories of what might be after death.

That was if there was an afterlife.

There was never a moment that he thought of taking up any of these beliefs, even if there was a chance that made him a little closer to normal people. He was a product from Cadmus, even if it existed, it won’t apply to him… A creation from science.

            Man, I wish Beyond was here.

Chapter One: Grievance

            Damian sat unmoving in front of the two bat statues, so small it could be passed off as garden decorations. He buried the lower half of his face into the bend of his arm that was propped up by his knee. His other arm nursed the gun injury he gotten from Jason earlier that week. The fight for Batman’s mantle was over. Dick was officially the new Batman and he would be the new Robin. He should be happy, but he wasn’t.

            He felt… empty somehow.

Nights of Tomorrow- Prologue

            Despite the glaring sun, it was a dark day for Gotham and it would become darker as the time passed. His death was a week ago. Even now they couldn’t believe it. He was so cautious, so tenacious how could he have died? The family stood grim and solemn as the coffin lowered into the ground.

            Damian had his fists clenched firm at his sides. Why the hell was it such a clear day? That coffin shouldn’t be going into the ground. His shoulders shook with fury; his nails dug into his palms.

            Dick placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder in an attempt to consol him, but nothing could keep him from his grief. Dick had not expected this to happen, none of them had. He felt responsible for his death. He should’ve been there. He should’ve known… but now it was too late for these words. He was gone.

            Tim stood silent as the dirt piled onto the coffin. There must be a logical explanation for this. There was no way he could’ve died that easily.

            But none grieved as greatly as their butler Alfred. He was the one that found him. The one to carry his bullet littered body home. They couldn’t take him to the morgue. They couldn’t even report him dead. They had no believable story to tell to the press. The only thing they could do was to give him this small funeral and bury him at the manor. His grave was next to another unnamed grave, marked only by a bat statue. The grave of his father. 

            Here lied the graves of Bruce Wayne and his son Terrence Wayne.

Epilogue: Thoughts of Beyond

            “You know Bruce isn’t going to be happy when he realizes I brought you here.” Tim his helmet on the seat and helped the younger boy off his motorcycle. He and Terry had snuck to Titan’s Tower without telling Bruce. With the other boy so small, hiding him under Robin’s cape while they sped out of the cave was no trouble.

            “He’s already grounded me from joining any actual field work until I’m over twenty, what more can he do to me now?” Terry said dryly as he pulled off his own helmet.

            “Be happy that’s all he’s grounding you with.” Tim commented. After Terry’s recovery, Bruce decided to recount the boy’s time in Metropolis and Central before he came into his care.

            “It’s not like anyone died.” He complained.

            “Think of it this way, you’ll have more time to perfect your witty banter.” Tim smirked.

            “Very amusing Tim, where do you get your material?” Terry drawled sarcastically as the other laughed.

Chapter Sixteen: Awakening

            A week ago, he met his grandfather for the first time in his life. A strange experience for him, considering his grandfather was dead since the last time he checked.

            A month ago, he was learning about said dead grandfather. It was the most dreadful lesson he faced. He and his mother were in the Judea desert when he was required to cram in five hundred years worth of information on said dead man.

            Three months ago, he spotted his father on a television set as he walked through the streets of London with his mother. The deadweight was supposedly found, from what the announcement said he was missing for a good while. He recalled the annoyance he felt, his father looked anxious and exhausted. If the man was acting at all, he was a damn good actor, the whole thing looked sincere. It was possible that his father found out the deadweight is his son.

            Six months ago, his father was proven innocent. It was utter nonsense to him that his father would kill a woman in such a manner. A gun was ridiculous considering what the man could do and the greatest detective in the world couldn’t hide a body? Don’t make him laugh. 

            Eight months ago, he ran away from his mother and her League of Assassins to help his deadweight brother deadweight to uncover who had framed their father. They managed to narrow the suspects down before he was retrieved.  

Now, he was on the run from his five hundred-year-old grandfather. His mother tried to protect him, but he doubted she could keep him from an army of assassins. He was drugged, attacked and chased through southeast Asia. It was a pain for him to make his way back to US soil and Gotham.

Chapter Fifteen: The Return

With Superman and Nightwing supplying the distraction for Cadmus operatives, Batgirl and the Flash rushed through the facility and knocked out security cameras, alarms and announcement speakers. They kept everyone busy while Batman searched for Terry. The dark knight had managed to find schematics of the facility, but that alone was not enough to find the cunning little boy.

Chapter Fourteen: Versus

            Terry’s disappearance was not taken lightly. The boy was formerly part of Cadmus and even more so, he had access to the bat-computer’s records. They waited two days for a ransom before filing a missing report to the police. As confident as they were with their own searches, it was not possible to put off Terrance Wayne’s appearance in public for more than a few days. Bruce’s frame-up was still fresh among the public. They needed to keep unneeded questions from rising. That didn’t stop the tabloids from implying that Bruce had killed his own son.

Chapter Thirteen: Revealation

            It had been months since his dad was accused of murder, months since he and his brother joined to hunt the culprit and months since Nightwing and the others realized his dad was innocent. Yet, they were able to do nothing. They could prove Batman was innocent, but not Bruce Wayne. Until his dad’s name was cleared, he refused to return to school. He rather use the time to monitor Gotham and perfecting the video link system on the cowl.

Interlude Two: Thoughts of XIII

            His name was Conner Kent, but he supposed he would respond to XIII as well. Where to start his story? From the start of his productions? From the moment he was awake? Or maybe the short span of a year he spent in Cadmus? No—we’ll start from when he decided to flee. 

Chapter Twelve: Struggle

            Not long after Bruce Wayne’s escape from prison, a missing child report was filed for one Terrance Wayne. The officials believed Bruce Wayne had taken the child after the murder of Vesper Fairchild and attempted to flee the country with his son. Some said he had done away with the child as he done so to Fairchild.

Chapter Eleven: Again and Again

            It’s been three weeks since Bruce and Alfred pursued after Dr. Kinsolving and her kidnappers. In their absence, Tim strained to juggle his duties to the Titans and Gotham. Fortunately, he needn’t worry about the homicidal duo that once wreaked havoc in the manor in the early mornings. Talia had taken Damian before Kinsolving’s kidnap, but he wasn’t sure what happened to Terry.