Motley

Bruce

Bruce Wayne is tired. Of everything. Secrets. Fighting. Crime. Death. All of which makes up Gotham, really.
Bruce Wayne is tired of Gotham.
He’s been doing this for years, trying to get revenge for his parents. He used to be able to picture them so clearly, the blood, his mother’s dead face. Lately, though, all he sees is death, so much misery in a life that already feels too long.

He has Alfred, of course, and Dick and Jason. A surrogate father and two adopted sons. They’re tired, too. They all used to enjoy this, the training, the crime-fighting, the villains. Now, they’re just tired. Bruce Wayne is 37, and he feels ancient.
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Joker gets bored with his statue and inches over to Motley. The kid grins up at him, blood smeared on his front teeth. “What’re ya doing, Mot?”

Motley holds the knife up. “Stabbing,” he says cheerfully, making Joker laugh again. The kid is so delightfully weird.

“You should have toys or something,” he muses.

Motley doesn’t understand-Leen never gave him toys. “Huh?”

“Toys. Action figures, robots, whatever fuckin’ bull they’re selling for kids nowadays.”

Motley smiles wide. “Kay!”