Teen Titans: Apocalypse

~Six~

Bruce happily made dinner, smiling to himself. It was nice to have them all home. He pushed the fear of an attack to the back of his mind. This night was going to be special. He would make sure of it. They deserved it.

Bruce spun around, his frilly pink apron flying as he did. Music played in his head; a jazzy tune he used to dance to at parties. He remembered the kids hating the parties. He remembered the fuss they would give for having to dress up for it. But soon after they would be stealing snacks and dancing with each other. Bruce missed their laughter most of all.

"Bruce?" A voice spoke behind the humming man. He paused and turned around. "Yes?"

Richard stood in the doorway, a hand covering his mouth. Bruce raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to the teen. "Dick?"
Richard dropped his hand, coughing, a trickle of blood running down his lip and turned his head away. Bruce's eyes widened. He rushed forward and grabbed the boy's shoulders.

"Dick, hey, look at me." the flustered man ordered, gently grasping his cheeks. Richard allowed the man to turn his head, his blue eyes growing bigger in size as he gazed at Bruce. His lip trembled. Tears slid down his cheeks. "It h-hurts." He whimpered, his legs becoming jelly and giving out on him.

Before he could fall completely, Bruce slid forward, catching him. He scooped the boy up and carried him carefully out of the kitchen. His mind was a blur of worry and panic. Another one. Another one of his precious kids sick. He walked into the hall and across to the living room. Once inside, he set Richard gently on the couch. Around the man, sitting on the floor, cuddled up with one another, were the other kids.

Bruce looked at each in turn, surprised to see them so quiet and content. He had been so used to the yelling and arguing that it felt almost alien without it in their presence. Destiny and Lloyd were curled up together, next to Theo and Olivia, and Scarlet and Jason. Bruce observed them silently.

"Are you guys alright?" He asked gently, unsure he wanted an answer. There was a moment of silence before someone spoke.

"Lloyd told me about last night." Destiny stated, not facing Bruce. "And he told me it had been getting worse, but you didn't say anything."

Bruce was silent. His heart sank, his gut tightened. "I'm sor-"

"I don't blame you." Destiny interrupted, facing him with a tear stained face. "I know why you did it." Bruce's shoulders sagged forward. He stepped forward, but Destiny was up and in his arms first.

"I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth. I didn't want to hurt you. Any of you." Bruce admitted, his own eyes moistening.

Richard sat up, coughing into his hand. "We'll be fine, Bruce." He assured gently. Bruce stepped back and sat on the floor. He nodded. "You deserve the truth. I'm sorry it can't be any other way."

"There is no cure." He whispered, but not so much that they didn't hear. "There is no point in keeping you locked up to suffer in those rooms. In truth, you really just go to that hospital to... Suffer as you..." Bruce couldn't bring himself to finish it. He trailed off, breaking down completely in front of the teens.

Heavy sobs escaped him. His body shook. All of the fear, worry, and stress from the past two months came at him at once, overwhelming the man. One by one the teens crawled forward and embraced the man in a loving hug.

"We knew, Bruce." Richard admitted, clinging tightly to the man. "And no matter what happens please know that we love you."

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Bruce carried the box up the stairs from the Batcave, struggling to keep hold of it. His sweaty hands loosely gripped the sides, sending it sliding all over the place. But, still he continued. The contents inside rattled and shifted within the box, not helping with maintaining balance. The man grunted, throwing himself forward with the box to keep form falling.

The door swung open unexpectedly, causing Bruce to stumble forward, the box bursting open, and the contents spilling out onto the floor. Jason smiled apologetically down at the man. "Oops."

After helping gather the contents and place them back into the box, Jason sauntered after Bruce as they walked down the hall. "What is all this stuff for?" The boy asked, curious. Bruce chuckled in amusement. "You'll see."

Once back in the living room with everyone else, Bruce set the box down on a coffee table.

"Alright, kids," he announced grinning at the teens. "Enough moping around. You're Titans, after all. And Titans don't quit. Right?"

Small chuckles and giggles, accompanied by weak smiles met Bruce. The man opened the box and sat before the kids gathered around on the floor. "Here's your mission. It's in this box." He began to explain, acting serious. "So suit up."

Bruce pulled out a bunch of costume parts and dumped them on the floor. The faces around him lit up, filling the room with a warmth that hadn't been felt in so long. The teens dove forward and began rummaging through the clothes on the floor. Each pulled out pieces of their old costumes and held them up to the dim ceiling light, beaming.

"They're not your complete costumes." Bruce explained, "But they are masks, capes, and accessories." However, the teens didn't care. Whether they were complete or not didn't matter to them. As long as they had at least some part of what they used to be they were fine.

Bruce also dumped out a few medical supplies and stood. "I know you'll hate this, but the mission requires you to be slow." Bruce walked around the kids until he reached Scarlet, Lloyd, and Richard. There he stopped and knelt down.

"You three especially are to take it easy. Understand?" He scolded gently. "I don't want to have to be carrying you on this mission."

The three teens laughed lightly, but nodded in understanding. Bruce smiled and stood. "Alright. Your mission-should you choose to accept it-is to find the various items I have hidden around the manor. Work together. It's not a race. You are all one team. Follow your leader."

Bruce winked at Richard and slunk away to wait.