Batman and the Justice League

Therapy Session

"First question: what has brought you here?"

"I made you for the purpose of...dealing...with myself..."

"Why would you need to make me? Is there no one else to talk to?"

"..."

"This is a two-way conversation, Bruce."

"No. There is no one else. They...they couldn't handle me."

"Why is that?"

"Hrn. I am...I am why they understand pain."

"Why do you think you are the source of their pain?"

"..."

"Let me ask you something else. What is your biggest regret?"

"Jason."

"Why is he your-"

"Damian, Barbara, Tim, Dick, Alfred, Kate, Cassandra, Stephanie, Clark-"

"I see this is everyone close to you, Bruce."

"..."

"Jason was the name to first come to your mind. Explain your regret with him."

"I...I saw too much of myself in him, the wrong things...I thought I could fix it, fix him, and by that fix myself. It got him killed. Then he came back angrier and more broken than before. It's my fault for not stopping it, the same for Dick. When I first started, I never imagined, never meant to have...a...a family...I-I'm sorry..."

"I have scanned, no one else is here. They will not see your tears. This is a safe place."

"Hrn."

"Would you like to move on? What would you say is your biggest fear?"

"Going just as insane as the criminals I lock up."

"Bruce, I have noticed that you keep a distance from relational matters. Even in your answer just now it is geared towards work. Your regret of Jason happened in the line of duty as well, but what is your biggest fear? Is it relationships, intimacy, or just being known?"

"When I die...the legacy I leave behind...I know someone will take over, I've made sure of that, but my family...my kids. I'm afraid I've left them all more broken than when I first found them. They all came in because I made them come, because they needed to, or just because they wanted to follow my crusade. They were all looking for an outlet for the pain and I...I didn't help...I can't deal with my own pain...and I couldn't help them with theirs, and now...Dick is always gone. It's never been the same since our fight before Jason came. Dick's always gone. I...even with Tim, I never looked at him, I wanted another son like Dick. Tim...he's gone with Stephanie now. I guess I wonder if I did anything right...especially with Damian. He was...is...angry all the time. I haven't been a good father to him, to anyone. They die, they all die, they keep dying! I'm never there! Never on time! And I put them in the suit. I put them in there to keep them away. I made them soldiers to follow orders so that they would fight and nothing more. We would be colleagues, allies, nothing more...never my children...my family. I...I'm done. This is all. Alfred's coming."

"Until the next session. Powering off now."

"Master Bruce, I heard a voice just now."

"It was nothing, Alfred. Is my suit ready?"

"Cape and all, sir."

"No, not that one. I think Batman can take a rest for one night. Bruce Wayne has a family to take care of." 

THE END