Chapter Eight: Things that go BANG in the Night

"Do you have any idea of the damage you have caused?"

Tony considered it very underhanded of Alfred to have called Pepper to make sure that she had seen what had transpired. As if J.A.R.V.I.S. hadn't made sure that it had been on every TV at Stark Tower the second it had been broadcast.

Not only was Pepper and Alfred giving them a good scolding, but Giles had taken time out of his busy schedule doing absolutely nothing worthwhile at the museum to offer an occasional "humph" and a nod, routinely cleaning his glasses as if dirt was flying out of nowhere with only the intent of dirtying his spectacles. Willow was there also, but she was offering encouraging, if not a little bit of chagrin mixed in, smiles. Richard, who had fortunately not had to go to the hospital, was with Marti, Xander was more than likely watching TV somewhere, and Faith had bowed out, though she clearly thought the whole thing was rather amusing, while Spike had disappeared to some cubby hole he had discovered off the main cave.

"Listen, I know that we caused some damage –" Tony began but Pepper cut him off with a violent shake of her head. One of these days, her head was either going to start spinning around or fly completely off.

"Some damage? Some! You two practically destroyed two city blocks! And let's not even start on that apartment building."

"In my defense, I wasn't responsible for any of the structural damage to the buildings in Gotham." Bruce had a point. Tony didn't like it, but he had a point. "All my aggression was aimed at Tony. His weapons were the ones that caused the damage."

"Thanks a lot!" Tony huffed.

"And that is why Tony is going to hold a press conference to apologize for the damage he caused and promise to compensate the city for the repairs." Pepper gave a sharp nod, finalizing her words, and looking at Tony as if daring him to argue with her.

"Fine. I can do that." Tony shrugged.

"And apologize to Batman."

"What?" Tony snapped his jaw shut after the word escaped him. It had been his fault, so it was only right that he apologize publicly to the hero of Gotham, even though there were quite a few Gothomites that thought Batman was as much of a criminal as the bad guys he helped put away.

"Don't worry, Bruce will be there also," Alfred piped in.

"Why?" Bruce nailed his butler with a glare that wasn't as menacing as it was from behind the cowl, but was still effective. Unfortunately, Alfred was not affected in the slightest.

"You are Tony's friend. You will be there for moral support."

Bruce just shrugged, seeing the necessity of him being there in support of his friend. His being there would reflect positively on Tony, but Bruce wasn't missing the irony of the situation. If it was Batman standing there, instead of Bruce Wayne, the situation would be much different and not so positive to say the least.

Once Pepper stormed out of the room, phone to her ear, trying to smooth over the situation and get the press conference in motion and Alfred left to make a late breakfast, Bruce and Tony shared a look, and then both shrugged it off. It could have been a lot worse.

A few moments later, Richard entered the room, Marty holding onto his hand as she skipped along beside him. The young man was supposed to be on crutches, but he decided that hoping on one foot was preferable to hobbling around, and Marty mimicked him as good as she could by skipping.

"How would you two like to go to the amusement park?" Bruce said as he stood from his place on the couch.

Richard stopped in step, his face a cross between shock and disbelief. Marty was smiling wide in happiness.

"Really?" Richard still looked a little skeptical.

"Yes. Really," Bruce confirmed, picking up his bouncing daughter for the first time in a very long time. The little girl, giggling, clung to him.

"Are we going to go today?"

"Of course. Just as soon as we are finished with your Uncle Tony's press conference. Why don't you go see if Willow, Xander, and Faith want to go too?"

"Okay," Marti squealed, slipping from her father's arms and dashing out of the room. Bruce watched her go with a smile on his face. Tony was watching Richard, who had yet to remove his gaze from his adoptive father.

"Why the sudden urge to be family-like?" Tony loved the boy, but sometimes he felt Bruce's protégé needed a slap upside the head.

"I thought you would think it a good thing?" Bruce questioned.

"I do!" Richard nodded, his tone enthusiastic. Tony couldn't blame him for being reluctant to believe it though. After 8 years and all. "I…just…I don't know. I'm sorry." He sighed. "I am going to go get my crutches. I'm sure I'll need them." He began to hop out of the room, and then he stopped, hands braced on the door frame. "I'm really glad that, you know, you're back with us."

Once he was gone, Bruce released a deep sigh. "I've lost 8 years with my children." He sat down heavily as if his body was suddenly made of concrete. "I've been in the same house with them all this time, but I might as well have been on the other side of the world or the moon."

"I'm not the kinda person to give advice or to say things to make one feel better. I'm just not that type of person, but the upside is that at least you didn't get yourself killed so you can make it up to them. That's the bright side, right?"

Bruce laughed. "Yeah, that's the bright side." He got quiet, staring off into space for a few moments. Tony was just about to talk himself into shaking the other man, but Bruce looked up at him suddenly. "I've got this feeling that something is about to happen. Something bad."

"Hell," Tony cursed, taking a seat himself. "I was trying to ignore that. You know, that little bit of anxiety that settles in your heart and won't go away? Yeah, I've had that for a couple of days now. I blame you."

"Me? Why?"

"Your paranoia. If there is a bad guy within the city, he is going to do something as soon as he can and it is going to be bad. I guess, in this city and day and time, it is a good thing to have, but you've got to tire of it eventually."

"More than you realize," Bruce sighed once again. "Is it too much to ask for all the freaks to take a month or two off." He chuckled suddenly. "Buffy used to say that the sign welcoming people to Gotham should say something about freaks being welcome."

"I wonder which freak it will be." Tony contemplated for a moment. "Miracle Gro and Waddles are in jail. Mr. Freeze hasn't been seen in years. Riddler is in the wind. How many more have ya got?"

"Plenty and more are arriving all the time. It just depends on which one of them decides to make a move."

"Richard, aka Nightwing, is going to be out for a while. Ribs and all. He is going to be bored all day at the amusement park, but he sure as hell is not going to be happy about not being able to go out and help you." Tony hated to bring this subject up, but he felt he needed to. "So, I'll hang around and help you keep an eye out."

"Thanks," Bruce said with a slight smile. "I wanted to wait until he was old enough, 18 at least, before I took him out into the city to fight crime. I knew he was able and wanted to, but I guess I thought when I stopped training him, he would take that as a sign that he wasn't ready and shouldn't be taking the risk. Deep down I knew he was going to do what he wanted to do, whether I allowed it or not."

"You know better than anyone else that I am not meant to be a voice of reason." Tony paused to wait for a reaction, which he got when Bruce tried to hide his smile. Tony only glared at him through narrowed eyes before continuing. "But, Richard has a lot of things pulling him to a life of fighting crime and he is good – damn good at it. The other night wasn't his best night, but trust me, he wants to do it. Hell, he needs to. You know what that is like and if you or I aren't with him, then he is just going to go out anyway."

Bruce wasn't sure if he liked Tony being so intuitive concerning his adopted son, but he had a point. Richard would find a way if he was determined enough, which Bruce was sure Richard was. So many things had been going on around him while he had locked himself away from the world. He should have been doing so much more for his children. If he had been, then Richard would be fully capable of taking care of himself by now. Bruce felt as if his excuse of "not until he is 18" was just that – an excuse.

And he knew that one day he wasn't going to have a say in the matter and if he wasn't careful, he would drive Richard away forever.