Injustice: Broken Family

Thanksgiving Truce

A couple months later, it was now November. Life was emotionally difficult for Kevin, but he could survive, especially since he had a therapist to talk about his personal problems, and his therapist was willing to keep the fact that Batman was Kevin's father a secret. Now since Kevin had moved to Gotham two years ago, he made it a tradition to volunteer at Gotham's local Catholic Church for their annual Thanksgiving dinner, and then afterwards watch Planes, Trains, & Automobiles with a turkey drumstick, pumpkin pie, and hot chocolate. He would help cook some food for the dinner, and he would serve it up to all the attendees. This year, despite everything that had happened, Kevin unconsciously signed up to work the annual Thanksgiving dinner. He looked on the bright side, thinking it would give himself something to do. And besides, Kevin liked to cook. It was one of the few things he could positively associate Andrea with since it was one of many ways they bonded. Kevin's cooking was so good, it could rival Alfred's cooking.

For this Thanksgiving, Kevin volunteered to cook the turkey and the mashed potatoes, and Kevin bought three turkeys that all weighed 32 pounds, and those three turkeys were big enough to feed a church. Kevin cooked the turkeys and the mashed potatoes based on a combination of recipes that were established by Alfred and Andrea's mother Victoria, and a lot of the church patrons liked it. Not only did Kevin cook the turkey and potatoes, he also always served the food. Helping serve the food made Kevin feel good, because it gave him a purpose, and showing this generosity gave him joy. Kevin was at the serving booths at the church kitchen with all the other people who volunteered to cook various Thanksgiving dishes such as sweet potatoes, corn, stuffing, and so on and so forth. Kevin was wearing a turkey sweater with khakis and black Converse sneakers. Kevin heard various comments such as, "thank you this smells delicious," which made Kevin feel warm inside.

Seeing the thankful attendees made Kevin happy, and he was starting to feel like his old self again when suddenly, a familiar voice hissed, "a turkey sweater? That is the stupidest and tackiest sweater I've ever seen." Kevin's eyes widened in confusion and surprise, and right in front of him was his half brother, Damian Wayne! He appeared a little bit taller and he was wearing a black dress suit with a dark forest green tie. "Damian??" Kevin asked. He hadn't seen Dami since Dick died. "In the flesh," said a glaring Damian, "Clark and Andrea told me of the gifts that the man you call Father gave you... First he gifts you with wealth, and then he gives you Wayne Manor. And now you have the audacity to take Dick Grayson's name?!?!?! How dare you!" Before Kevin could ask Damian to calm down or try to explain why he took the Grayson surname, Charity said, "satisc'est, Damian!" Kevin saw that Charity was wearing a black dress sweater with white polka dots, a tan dress skirt, black nylons, black boots, and a black beret.

"Charity? What are you doing here?" Kevin asked, a tad surprised. "My Crystal Senses were telling me that there would be a possibility Damian would try to confront you over such petty things and needlessly escalate the situation," explained Charity, "I'm here to ensure your brother doesn't try to do anything reckless or stupid." Damian gave his famous scowl, grumbling how much of a buzz kill Charity was being. "Well I appreciate your willingness to look out for both of us," said Kevin, "are you two still together?" Damian and Charity looked at each other, wondering what to say, then they looked at Kevin and awkwardly said in unison, "uh... It's complicated..."

"I see," said Kevin, "look Damian, I don't want to fight, it's Thanksgiving. Can't you cut me a little bit of slack for once on this holiday in which we are supposed to give thanks? Charity, on your planet, whenever your people were at war that continued all the way to a holiday, did your people at least rest on a holiday and allow their enemies a temporary truce so that they too could enjoy a holiday?" Charity nodded and replied, "actually yes, we do have that code. We celebrate a Crystalian equivalent to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we do offer a chance of temporary peace for those we are fighting with in war because we understand their warriors wish to celebrate that holiday. It is a code of honor we practice." Damian tilted his head and asked, "are you proposing a Crystalian truce this Thanksgiving, Kevin?"

"Yeah, just this one holiday, can we set aside our differences and not be enemies?" Kevin offered, "if you agree to this temporary truce, you can stay for Thanksgiving dinner here. I actually have a leftover plate once I'm done serving." Charity smiled and said, "I find this truce most agreeable and reasonable." Damian sighed, "liakun, a truce it is." Kevin then served Damian and Charity some turkey and whatever else they liked. Around 25 minutes later, Kevin was given permission to take his dinner break. He practically earned it, and he wasted no time getting his plate of Thanksgiving food, and he found the table where Damian and Charity were sitting at, and he sat next to them. "I must say, you did a marvelous job cooking the turkey and the mashed potatoes Kevin," complimented Charity. "Thank you Charity," said Kevin.

"Which of these foods did you base on Pennyworth's recipe?" Damian asked. "The turkey," admitted Kevin, "Donna made the stuffing and the gravy." Damian nodded and said, "this gravy does pair well with the turkey that you made." Charity giggled, "why Damian Wayne, that might be one of the few nice things you've ever said to your brother." Kevin smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. And I do thank you for keeping me company while eating Thanksgiving." Damian then asked, "why didn't you ask Barbara if she would like to come or offer to join her for Thanksgiving dinner at her household?" Kevin shook his head and chuckled, "I guess I must have spaced. When I first moved to Gotham and Father Semper talked about the annual Thanksgiving dinner here, I guess I made it a bit of a tradition for me since I didn't know what traditions to establish after leaving Bellevue. It was totally unconscious when signing up this year, I swear." He ate some of his turkey. "Well when you do see Barbara, tell her I said hello," said Charity. "Will do," promised Kevin, "y'know, this is nice."

Several hours later, Kevin was at Wayne Manor, eating a slice of pumpkin pie with a cup of hot chocolate to pair with it, watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Once Kevin was at the end of the film, he heard a knock on the door. Kevin went to the front entrance, wondering who would be knocking at his door at this time of night. He opened the door, and it was Barbara's father, Commissioner James Gordon. "Commissioner, uh, good evening, this is quite a surprise," said Kevin. James nodded and said, "good evening to you too, Kevin. Mind if I come in? I was hoping we could talk." Kevin gave room and said, "why sure, sir. Come on in. Would you like any refreshments? I actually managed to get egg nog recently." James came in the Manor and said, "egg nog sounds nice, thank you." Kevin and James went to the kitchen, and Kevin served himself and James two glasses of egg nog. "So how was your Thanksgiving?" Kevin asked as they went to the dining room table. "It was actually nice and peaceful," said James, "we invited Dinah over. Barb felt it would have been cruel if Dinah spent her first Thanksgiving without her husband alone. How was yours?" The two sat down and Kevin said, "eventful. So... Do you know that..."

"That Bruce Wayne is your father?" Jim finished, "of course I do. I figured it out a year ago. And I'm sorry about what happened to you. You didn't deserve to have your own mother disown you like that." Kevin sighed sadly, "thanks..." He sipped his egg nog. James hesitated and then said, "the reason I wanted to talk to you Kevin is, well... I have cancer." Kevin gave a look of shock and asked, "you do?? How bad is it?" James sipped his egg nog and replied, "really bad. I'm dying from cancer as we speak." Kevin looked at James and sadly said, "I'm so sorry, Commissioner..."

"Please, call me Jim," said James, "and I appreciate your kindness, Kevin. Now the reason I wanted to talk to you is because my days are numbered. I'm honestly lucky I was able to spend this Thanksgiving with my daughter. I'll live to see this Christmas, but with this cancer, I might not live to see next Christmas. Now, I understand your mother doesn't want to spend Christmas with you, and I understand you can't spend Christmas with your father since he's practically nowhere to be seen... So Kevin, how would you like to join me and Barbara for my last Christmas?" Kevin gave a sad smile and said, "I would be honored to join you and Barbara for Christmas, Jim. It would make me happy." James smiled and said, "good. Now you don't have to come with a gift; any gifts for me won't matter, I mean if you want to buy a gift for Barbara, knock yourself out, although I wouldn't mind trying those cookies Barb tells me you make that are amazing." Kevin softly laughed, "I'll be sure to, Jim. Thank you for thinking of me, it means the absolute world."