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A Family Affair chapter 3

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Chapter 3: Good News, Bad News, Worse News

“Morning, Bruce,” Superman said, turning as Batman entered the operations room of the Watch Tower.  

“You said I had a message,” Batman said.  

“Did you and Diana decide, yet?” Superman bantered.  

“Yes.  We’re going.  We’ve decided that since the Titans are here now, there’s no need for some of us old fuddy-duddys,” Batman teased.  Superman chuckled, but looked at Batman as if he was waiting for him to finish what he was saying.  

“But?”

“It’s not going to be easy.  Pretty hard to teach this old dog a new trick.  It’ll be nice to be able to spend real husband-and-wife time with Diana, though.  I tried to call Alfred this morning to let him know that we’re moving home by the end of the month, and I couldn’t raise him,” Batman finished.  Superman looked at the floor for a moment and then looked his friend in the eyes.  

“There’s a reason you couldn’t reach Alfred this morning.  Bruce, the old man passed away last night.  There was no illness, he wasn’t sick, he wasn’t in any pain…he just went peacefully in his sleep.  I’m really sorry, Bruce.  He’s been with your family probably his whole adult life, hasn’t he?” Superman said.  Batman was silent a while and Superman patiently waited.  

“He raised me after my parents died…he helped me build the Batcave, the Batmobile…he made me who I am…”

“If you need the day to go put all the affairs in order, take it.  I’ve already pulled you off the roster for today and Diana too,” Superman said.  

“No need to burden her with this,” Batman said softly.  

“She’s your wife, Bruce,” Superman pressed gently.  

“What about me?” Wonder Woman called, entering the room with a cheeky grin.  “What’s with all the boy talk over here?  Conspiring to get rid of me now that I’m retiring?”  Her smile was as vivid as the day she joined the team and Batman never could resist it, but today was different.  

“Diana, I need you to go planet-side with Bruce and head for Gotham.  You’ve got some work to do,” Superman said.  

“What’s happened?” Wonder Woman asked, her expression now reflecting concern.  

“Alfred passed away last night,” Superman repeated.  Wonder Woman’s expression changed yet again as she approached her husband.  

“Bruce…”

“I’ll go get the jet ready,” Batman said, leaving the room.  The two watched him leave and then Superman rested his hand on Wonder Woman’s shoulder.  

“What was it?” she asked without turning around.  

“In his sleep.  It was just his time, Diana,” Superman said.  

“Oh, Clark, what am I going to do with him?” Diana said, finally turning to face him.  Superman gently pulled Wonder Woman into his embrace and she wept on his shoulder for a while.  She dried her eyes minutes later and then went to join Batman in the jet hangar.  

As Batman descended the levels of the space station toward the hangar, he met up with Nightwing.  

“Morning,” Nightwing grinned, stepping into the elevator with his mentor.  “How were things while we were gone?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Batman said shortly and without looking at him.  Nightwing raised an eyebrow and listened for a moment.  When Batman didn’t continue, Nightwing tried again.  

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Alfred’s dead,” Batman answered coldly.  He stepped off the elevator and into the hangar.  Nightwing was so blind-sided by the statement that he almost forgot to get off the elevator and follow him to get an explanation.  

“Do you need me to come to Gotham with you?” Nightwing offered.  

“No.  Superman already took Diana and me off the roster.  She’s coming with me,” Batman said.  

“That’s probably best.  Be sure to let us know when the funeral is—I’ll radio the kids and tell them what’s happened,” Nightwing said.  

“Dick?” Batman called as Nightwing walked back toward the elevator.  The younger hero stopped and turned.  

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”  

* * * * * * * * * * * *

By the time the Steel City Titans returned to their home, there was a surprise waiting for Bumblebee on the front step.  

“Herald, what are you doing here?” she asked, obviously pleased that he was there.  

“You didn’t really think that ‘see you soon’ meant anything more than a day, did you?” he teased.  Titans East shared a hearty laugh and proceeded into the tower with their new friend.  

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Did we just have a real funeral for a cockatiel?” Rumble murmured to Catalyst as they walked back toward the tower.  

“She was important to Emily.  We’d have done the same thing if it was your bird and you know it,” Catalyst said.  

“You see, that’s your first mistake.  I wouldn’t have a bird,” Rumble retorted.  Catalyst ruffled Rumble’s hair and laughed, stopping to wait for the others.  Hummingbird was on her way up the path.  

“Can we talk?” Catalyst asked his twin sister.  

“Of course.  Is everything ok?” she asked.  

“Yes, of course.  I just wanted to talk about you and Robin,” Catalyst said, smoothing back his short blue hair.  

“What about us?” Hummingbird asked, already knowing at least some of what her twin was going to say.  

“I’m worried about the two of you moving so fast,” Catalyst said.  

“Jason and I already talked about that.  He said his grandmother gave him the ring at the ball, and he thought that it would be the perfect time to pop the question.  I only accepted on the condition that we not make it official until we’re old enough,” Hummingbird said, squinting in the morning sunlight.  

“Really?” Catalyst said, mildly surprised that in the glow of the infatuation he thought she was getting swept up in both had kept a rational head.  

“Yes, really.  Momma raised us all better than that.  I’ve had that discussion with Emily and Rorek, too,” Hummingbird added, starting again to walk back toward the tower.  

“Rorek’s a perfect Victorian gentleman.  He won’t lay a hand on Emily until she says the word,” Catalyst said.  

“That’s what I was worried about,” Hummingbird said, stepping back into the lobby.  “Emmie’s smart, but she’s thirteen.  You remember what it was like to be thirteen, Toby.”  

“Unfortunately,” he muttered.  

“Momma said she’d help us with anything in that respect.  I’m not as worried as I was,” Hummingbird said.  

“Good.  Then….I don’t have to remind you that if he tries anything I’ll break his half-alien hands?” Catalyst said.  Hummingbird laughed as she closed the door behind the last of her teammates.  

“Emily, what is that?” Rumble asked when the Tamaranian creature peered over Thetis’s shoulder.  

“I brought her home from Tamaran with me.  Her name is Sugar,” Thetis said, petting the little squirrel like creature as it make a chattering sound.  

“Just be careful with her.  We don’t need your cat to mistake her for a snack,” Robin said, picking Sugar off Thetis’s shoulder and lightly scratching her ears.  In return, Sugar chattered happily and twitched her tail.  

“Anyone hungry?  It’s almost lunch time,” Hummingbird said.  

“I’m starved,” said Proteus.  “Hey, Toby, is Auntie Raven okay?  She looked like she wasn’t feeling well when we got home.”

“As far as I know she’s okay, why?”  Catalyst asked, setting the table.  

“Aw, nothin’,” he said.  “It’s just that my telemetry readings when I walked past her spiked on some of her hormones.  Maybe she’s coming down with something?”

“I think all of our parents are old enough to take care of themselves,” said Robin, preparing juice to drink with lunch.  

“If there was something seriously wrong, I’d have felt it by now,” Catalyst said crunching a piece of celery.  “Don’t worry about it.”  

After lunch, most of the young Titans went their separate ways.  For his part, Rumble slumped in his chair behind his computer and idly shuffled through files in the archives.  He had recently taken a liking to looking through the histories of the original Titans and watching the team evolve into what it had now become.  Clicking on his mother’s file, he smiled at the picture of her that appeared.  Along with what was known about his maternal grandparents—CIA agents—his name and his little sister’s were listed beneath that as well as the date that his parents married.  Leaning forward in the chair a little, Rumble noted something he hadn’t seen before: the date that his parents married was after his birthday.  Rumble clicked his name and his own file popped up.  For the first time, he took a good look at his statistics and discovered that the blank that should have had his father’s name in it contained a question mark.  

“But…Arsenal’s my dad…” Rumble muttered to himself.  “There’s gotta be some sort of mistake…” He knew he would need Hummingbird’s authorization to change anything in the archives, so he resolved to talk to her that weekend when their parents came home for the summer dance in Jump City.  

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 3 of the story: "Good News, Bad News, Worse News"

Lead in to the next arc of the story. The kids are home and settling back in and Rumble discovers more of his family history than he bargained for.
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BeastboysAngel's avatar
amazing what we forget as we get older. i wonder what's wrong with raven. i have a hunch and i hope it's not what it seems. poor batman and nightwing. i hope rumble can take the news well.