[Fic] Prologue: Bruce Wayne [Undead AU]

[jayeinacross]

Progress: Incomplete
Rating: Harmless
Warnings: None
Word count: 434
Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly.
Summary: Bruce Wayne's real heroes are his parents, but he doesn't think that he's lived up to what their expectations would have been - a good man.
A/N: The very beginning of my undead AU series where Bruce didn't become Batman after his parents died and sort of accidentally brought someone back to life. Provides a little background for the main storyline. There are more like these to come, for Dick and Tim and Jay, but they’ll be released as the main storyline goes along.
Also posted at on my comic and fic tumblr here.


***

Bruce Wayne.

Sometimes a child will grow out of their heroes. Someone they almost worshipped when they were young, and maybe retain fondness for as they get older, but altogether become unimportant in their adult lives.

Others will not grow out of their heroes. They will always look up to them, know that they have changed their lives, and will always be grateful for that.

Bruce Wayne had both types of heroes. He grew up watching superheroes from a distance, on the television, and one notable time in Metropolis with his friend Tommy, when they watched Green Lantern fight the Icicle. Those heroes were the first type, ones that Bruce respected later on, but never made such a large impact on his life as his other heroes did.

Like Thomas and Martha Wayne. Bruce’s true heroes, his parents who were taken from him when he was but a child. They taught him to be a good man, but they could only do so much in the short time they were with him.

Bruce learned from them everything he cherishes about family - kindness, love, loyalty, generosity. And though he cherishes them, sometimes he doesn’t understand them, and sometimes he cannot express them.

The death of his parents turned Bruce numb. It was only because of Alfred, the one constant in his life, that he made it through that freezing pain. Alfred...and his work.

His life is dedicated to trying to find something extraordinary. Something that will change the field of medicine forever. He has skill; he’s a brilliant doctor, researcher and scientist, but...it’s perhaps not enough skill. Not yet. Not enough for it to be safe. He has prototypes, things that have the potential to be revolutionary. Or very, very dangerous.

And something else. Something secret. Something that shouldn’t even exist.

Bruce doesn’t consider himself to be a good man. He tries his best, but that, he supposes, is not enough. If he were a good man, he wouldn’t experiment like this. He wouldn’t hide these things like a criminal, staying in the shadows so no one can see him. He wouldn’t have to depend on his work as much as he does.

It’s a science that not even he fully understands. But he does understand that he shouldn’t have this knowledge. That it is dangerous. Both to use and to possess. And he feels so much guilt for using it anyway.

His sons, the products of his crimes, are trying to convince him otherwise. They are grateful. That knowledge has given them life again. And it has given Bruce a family.