[The Daily Planet] Lost Son

"Lost Son"
Batman, Wonder Woman, Thomas Wayne
Standing out of the way but close enough to help, Diana watched as Bruce tended to the unconscious young man they’d found in the rubble. Her gaze kept falling to the young man’s face. She wasn’t sure why but something about him struck something within her, something about him reminded her of someone. “How is he?”
"Alive," Batman said gruffly. Dark eyes lifted from the boy's face as Bruce pulled at his mask and dropped it to the side, rubbing his temples. "He's not Human. A Human with those kinds of injuries would be dead by now."
Diana raised a perfect dark brow. “You would think after all these years you’d be use to humans who can do things most humans can’t, Bruce. He must be a Meta.”
"Or related to one," Bruce nodded. He felt his shoulders crack loudly when he rolled them and grunted as he started to remove his cape. "I hate getting old..."
Tom moaned slightly but didn't wake up even if his hand reached out for something to hold onto.
Her friend’s aging was a topic Diana knew to steer clear of. Just as it wasn’t easy for her to think that some day she would lose him, it wasn’t easy for him to know that his age would take Batman from him. Stepping closer to the young man Diana reached out to give him her hand, and brush matted hair from his face. “Any ideas on who that relative could be?”
"He kept calling me "dad" so I'd assume his mother," Bruce said, a sad kind of fondness gathering in his eyes despite himself. "Y'know, I thought we were done with alternate realities. I hate that crap almost as much as I hate my grey hair."
“I think your gray hair makes you look very handsome.” Diana replied. She’d always said it in a teasing manner, but it was the truth. She liked the way the flashes of silver streaked lightly through his dark hair. Diana blinked when she caught onto what Bruce was thinking. The young man had called him dad and her mom. The Amazon blinked again as she looked up at Bruce. “You really think he could be…”
"It's a working hypothesis," Bruce said grimly as if the thought made him too tired to even think. "Until we know otherwise, it's all we've got to go on." Slowly, though, something else was occurring to him and it made the worry lines on his face almost smooth away. "If this kid's from an alternate reality..." He looked at Diana and wondered if she was following his thought pattern. "Then Ely..."
“Could be in one as well.” Diana agreed. She had to agree with Bruce on being tired of the multi-verse, it was just to weird even for a woman who’s faced down monsters of myth. Kal with gray hair, a warlord Bruce, and worse of all her mother as a blonde! “So how do we find out for sure?” 

"Talk to Barb?" Bruce shrugged. "Maybe she can find out something for us."
“With all the technology at her finger tips she should be able to find something.” Letting go of the young man’s hand Diana walked out into the cave and over to Bruce’s command center, but she stopped just short of calling Barbara. A small, hopeful, yet sad smile tugged her lips as she reached out and picked up a Pink Panther glass that still had some soda in it. Ely had become family so quickly it felt as if the Gods had willed it. Setting the glass back down she placed the call for Barbara’s command center.
A young, bright face appeared on the screen, a fire of blazing red hair framing sharp blue eyes. "You've reached the den of the infamous Oracle," chimed the girl, "I'm afraid she's not in right now as she's off doing something medical and deeply disturbing to herself, so please leave a message with her friendly yet slightly annoying messaging service, Delphi." 

“Shall I wait for you to beep little one?” Diana smirked.
Delphi laughed brightly and winked at Wonder Woman. "Yeah, coz you know how my Mom loves getting messages from me like that." Delphi, or Cassandra as she was known outside of the Clocktower, was Barbara Gordon's and Dick Grayson's only daughter and she was known for having her father's hyperactivity in his youth plus his sweet smile, not to mention her mother's high intellect and skill with computers. "What can we at information HQ do for you then, WW?"
“Welcome to your first experience with a possible multi-verse issue.” Diana replied. “Batman and I need you and Oracle to scan for breaches that could indicate a multi-verse gateway. Start at these coordinates.” She sent the location of the ruined school to the clocktower. “Contact either me or Batman if you find anything.”
"Sure thing, WW," Delphi chimed as she tried to peer around to see where Batman was. "No caped crusader this evening? My Mom wanted to know what he was doing for Thanksgiving."
Diana looked in the direction of the medical area before returning her gaze to the girl on the screen. “My guess would be brooding, but I’ll ask and let you know.”
The bright laugh was silvery as it tinkled out of the slim yet pretty girl. "Cool, I'll tell her and she can nag him. I'll get on the whole wabbly universe thing right off." She waved cheerfully at Wonder Woman and cut the connection.
"Thanks," came a dark, soft voice behind Diana. "That kid gives me a headache."
She just barely managed to keep herself from jumping. Despite enhanced hearing Bruce still managed to sneak up on her from time to time. Turning to look at him she smiled, her blue eyes sparking in merriment. “All children give you a headache my friend.”
"That one more than most," Bruce grunted with a flinch. "She's worse than Dick was at that age."
A soft moan was followed by light padding footsteps toward them before a cut and bruised face appeared in the doorway. "Hi..." Tom whispered, holding his ribs and swaying slightly.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you to stay in bed when you're this hurt?" Bruce sighed, his hand going to the kid's shoulder. 

"Never been hurt before..."
Seeing the young man standing there it hit Diana like a charging minotaur. With the exception of his eyes, those were Bruce’s eyes, it was as if she were looking at a male version of Selene. “Blessed Artemis.”
Tom leaned heavily against Bruce, holding onto him like a child to a parent. "You're not my Mom," he said softly, sadly. "I can feel it. Where am I?"
"The Bat Cave," Bruce told the boy. "And no, we're not your parents. We think you've been... displaced."
All Diana could do in that moment was look at the young man, but she shook it off. “It’s possible that the explosion at the school knocked you out of your universe and into ours, while knocking one of ours into yours. We’re looking in to it.” She moved closer to him, smiling reassuringly. “We’ll get you back to your parents…” She smiled a little more then took a guess. “If your father is like our Bruce I highly doubt you’re a junior, so,” she paused, “Thomas?”
It shocked Bruce that Diana would suggest that as a name and it shocked him even more when the kid smiled and nodded.
"Thomas Alfred Wayne," he said softly. "Most people call me Tom. Even you... I mean my Mom."
She gave Bruce a slight shrug. “It’s the name I would have picked.” She blushed just a little and then turned her attention back to the young man. “It’s alright, Tom. These things are never easy and we understand. When you see me you see your mother, we are the same woman only on different Earths. Try not to over think that, it’ll give you a headache.”
"Got one of those already without thinking," Tom chuckled then flinched slightly. "I thought Selene was kidding when she said it hurt."
Diana smiled as she unconsciously brushed at the young man’s hair. She could see it in his eyes and she found it, and him, a wonder. “You didn’t follow in your parents footsteps.”
This was going to kill him, Bruce thought ruefully as he watched Diana and the boy gradually bond. He knew Diana was a mother so it was only natural but what would really hurt was seeing the 'what if' right there in front of his eyes. The kid was theirs in another reality. Of course, he'd known about other such instances but to meet a son, to see the connection between that boy and a woman he'd wanted to love for a long time, that was slowly murdering him.
"I'm at college," Tom said softly. "I'm going to be a psychologist. Dad thinks that's more important than being Batman."
“Safer then being Batman.” Diana replied. A thousand questions swirled around in her head. A son, the thought had never crossed her mind. A Themyscirian Amazon hadn’t given birth to a son since before they’re arrival on the island. Glancing over at Bruce, she wondered what was going through his head. What was he thinking knowing he had a son, or that another form of him did.
"It's a good profession, kid," Bruce said gruffly as he touched Tom's hair lightly and ruffled it. "But you've got to go back to bed so your Dad doesn't come after his alternate self, okay?" 

Tom smiled and nodded.
“Knowing Alfred he’s already gotten one of the rooms upstairs ready.” Diana laughed softly. “I’m not totally convinced that he doesn’t have the whole cave on surveillance.”
"Or the whole of my life," Bruce added ruefully. "I swear he even knows when to nag me about eating or sleeping."
"Like Mom..." Tom said softly, the pain in his features clear as sweat sprung up on his forehead.
Diana smirked. “Some things remain the same.” She looked pointedly at her friend. “Bet he listens as well as you do.” Turning back to Thomas she reached up and caressed his face. “Lets get you settled in. Even I’d be hurting pretty badly after a explosion like that.”
In one movement, Bruce picked the boy up in his arms, quite pleased that he still could. "Come on, Thomas," Bruce said softly, a faint smile on his face. "Time to rest."

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