The New Teen Titans (Damian Centric)

Chapter 13: Suspension

Bruce was extremely busy with the endless tasks that still needed to be completed for work. A decision was made to merge a couple of domestic divisions but the process was not going as smoothly as it should. A team of executives was failing to do their job and no proper communication was being made, so Bruce had to step in again to put an order to the organization. His days were quite stressful, nothing he wasn't used to, but work was just more hectic than usual. To make things worse, the board of directors wasn't in agreement with their decisions, an added stress that Bruce did not have time to deal with.

He already had so much to worry about; Two-Face's schemes, Scarecrow's recent escape from Arkham, crime rates in Gotham stubbornly rising despite his efforts to make things better, not to mention the things that were happening in his personal life. He didn't have the time nor the patience to figure out what was going on between him and Selina, they had been dating and were getting a lot more serious, too serious, and Bruce wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He was used to their open - and complicated - relationship but things started to change the more they spent time together, especially after they were able to rescue Selina's friend, Holly, from a kidnapper. Since then, Catwoman kept making her appearances more frequent, providing company during patrol nearly every night, and his feelings for her were increasing rapidly, but he didn't expect to fall for someone at a time like this.

He needed to prioritize his kids first, there were so many things that he was falling behind on. When was the last time he made an effort to spend time with each one of them to make sure they were doing well? Alfred kept pestering him to take a break for once and take everyone on a camping trip, which sounded horribly tiresome, but he had plans to do so. After all, his family was the real reason why Bruce did what he did. For so long Bruce obsessed over his crusade to honor the death of his parents that he would often times forget the people who truly mattered: his family. They were the reason why Bruce kept on going, especially at times when he was so close to dying, but he refused to give up so he could be there for them. All he wanted was for all his sons - and daughter - to be happy. Simple as that. Bruce was aware of his failures as a father and he hated how absent he had been. He had plans to change that.

His recent worries centered on Damian's refusal to obey simple orders that were meant for his own safety. He also didn't like how his youngest was acting so quiet around the manor and... Distant. He knew Damian would be deeply upset for being benched, hence the harsh punishment for putting his life at risk, but he had been meaning to talk to him after scolding him. He just hadn't found the time, each seemingly free moment he had to go to his son and explain things more calmly, he was pulled in another direction for work matters, patrol, and even out-of-planet problems with the Justice League. Bruce wanted to talk to Damian, bond with him. Hell, he would love to make time to do something as mundane as watching a movie in the living room or taking his boy to the fair.

Bruce was worried about Tim too, was he sleeping properly? Was he feeling overwhelmed with the extra college classes he had been taking on top of his internships? Would Tim take his old job at Wayne Enterprises back once he was done with school? Bruce missed him. And Dick, how was he doing with his new job while also handling the Teen Titans and late-night patrols at Blüdhaven? As for Jason, how long had it been since they did something as simple as eating fast food together, just like old times? Sure, Jason was always at odds with him, and a part of Bruce did not want to know the troubles his adopted son kept getting himself into, but he just wanted to know if Jason was okay. Bruce also needed to check on Cass, and he hoped that Barbara and Steph were doing well also.

Bruce leaned his head back and rubbed his face with both hands, letting out a long and tired sigh. He was exhausted. He couldn't even remember how much time he had slept the night before, but that was the least of his problems. After rubbing his eyes in circles, Bruce shook it off and went back to reviewing the report analysis that Lucius had sent him. He didn't expect anything to happen that would interrupt him until he received a phone call from his secretary.