Princess' Riches {ON HOLD}

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Readjusting, Needing

The surprise return of (Y/n) Prince-Wayne marvelled his friends as well as communities across Metropolis and Gotham - though the rest of the world could not share the same delight, they were relieved that the superhero made his glorious return in such style that made even villains tremble about what trouble would follow on their next crime spree. It was, of course, (Y/n)'s brother who remained completely silent on the matter of his brother until his return. 

Gotham

Upon returning to his true home, (Y/n) had never felt so different about entering the building that once belonged to his late father and mother. (Y/n) was still proud to see his home in top shape thanks to the devoted butler that served his family for over sixty years. The old British gentleman was handy to serve his guests tea as (Y/n) sought his brother's company. 

Bruce brooded in the living room, sitting by a fire with a glass of wine in his hand while servants roamed the halls. For some reason, (Y/n) felt a bit anxious to acknowledge his brother after what he put him through, his own wife included who was surprisingly quick to forgive him for the heartbreak he put her through. A nudge on the shoulder from his wife encouraged (Y/n) to go and take up the room by the fire while she simply mind her business elsewhere.

Clearing his throat, (Y/n) gave a faint wave at his brother who continued to stare at the fire. "Hey, bro. It's, uh, it's good to see you again."

"Yeah... you too, (Y/n)." Bruce responded moodily.

"Surprised to see me alive?"

"No."

(Y/n) looked at him in shock, only to realise that it was obvious his own brother knew better than to express his true sorrow unless something was amiss.

"I took the liberty to gather all of the evidence at the crime scene when Toymaker used his weapon. Every little bit didn't have any residue of any kind on it." Bruce explained, cutting himself off by taking a sip of his wine. "And I was right. If something bad really did happen, I would have noticed - and don't bother. I double-checked everything to make sure I didn't miss anything. It was only a matter of time before you showed up. Either that, or I had to come find you myself."

"It's been months since I last saw a proper face, Bruce. Back there... I was alone. At least so I thought. I ended up fighting some miscreant that gave me this fancy scar, here. And how did they repay me? I talked 'em into sparing my life in exchange they helped me find a way back home. A time machine, Bruce. A frickin' time machine!"

"I doubt some 'miscreant' gave you that scar. Myself and Diana personally trained you to defend yourself. Or did you get sloppy?" Bruce stated with a hint of humour in his voice - something very, very rare.

(Y/n) scoffed. "Try getting shot in the shoulder by a flintlock and see how it feels."

"(Y/n), I wear advanced suits and body armour to block plain bullet rounds. When I get shot, it doesn't lodge into my skin, rather my armour. So something's telling me you saw something. What was it?"

"Okay, fine! I," he said before looking over his shoulder to see if his wife was in sight before speaking in a low voice. "I haven't told Diana the whole truth, but... someone was after me when I first arrived practically on Tatooine. I couldn't tell who it was at first, but later on, I found something really, really insane! Get this: the fella after me was... Lyta."

"Lyta?!"

"I know, right! But, see, here's the thing... she said that in accordance to my disappearing - 'presumed dead,' mind you - Lyta confessed that Diana is in major grief and that there was some sort of opening for Atlantis and the Amazons to form an alliance. But somewhere along the lines, Arthur's girlfriend gets jealous of this new relationship and ends up challenging Diana to a duel, a fight to the death, if you will. Obviously, she loses. Arthur doesn't take it well and he ends up waging war on the Amazons, and shortly thereafter, the world gets caught in the conflict, destroying the entire planet with neither party as victor, leaving my daughter as the sole survivor of the holocaust. And she says she blames me for causing Diana all that grief, all that depression. Next thing I know, I'm fighting Grundy. That's right. Solomon freakin' Grundy. Afterwards, I manage to get Lyta smiling, then I help her get a fragmentation of the sun itself to power her time machine which helps get me home."