Almost 12 years later, 2016

It had been nearly 12 years since Bruce gained full custody rights to his son, Kevin. And Kevin was literally the only one who wasn't interested in being a superhero. Then again, Andrea gave Bruce explicit instructions that Kevin was not allowed to fight crime as a superhero. Even so, Kevin wasn't interested in being a superhero. He did however adopt the Wayne surname, legally changing his name to Kevin Beaumont-Wayne. Now Kevin was a junior at Gotham University. It was another typical day in Gotham City for Bruce. He was in his office at Wayne Enterprises doing research on The Francesco Crime Family. Carlos Francesco's nephew Parry and a few of his henchmen had robbed one of Gotham's banks. Bruce was studying Parry, or as this criminal liked to call himself, "Paris Franz." This sociopathic narcissist concerned Bruce. Suddenly, Bruce's phone rang. He picked it up and said in his billionaire playboy voice, "Wayne Enterprises, this is Bruce."

"Hello Master Bruce." Alfred said on the phone. "Good afternoon Alfred," said Bruce, "is everything okay?" Alfred replied on the phone, "why yes, everything is alright. But someone has come home to Wayne Manor recently."

"And whom might that be?" Bruce asked. "Our visitor wishes for it to be a surprise," replied Alfred, "if you could come back over home, it would certainly please our guest." Bruce looked at the time and said, "I'll be right over. I'll just have to shut down my computer." Alfred said on the phone, "very well then. See you soon, Master Wayne." Bruce then hung up the phone and shut down his computer. He didn't want the rest of his employees to accidentally find out about the casework regarding Paris Franz. Bruce then left Wayne Enterprises and went to his car, driving back to Wayne Manor. 30 minutes later, he was back at his home and noticed that there was a 1968 blue Roadrunner Plymouth parking outside. Bruce then got out of his car and wandered into Wayne Manor. "Alfred, I'm home," said Bruce as he saw his loyal butler waiting for him. "I'm glad you arrived, Master Bruce," said Alfred as he and Bruce wandered to the living room. In the living room was Bruce's 21 year old son, Kevin Wayne. He was reading a Sherlock Holmes novel and sitting on the couch. Kevin noticed his father and put down his book, standing up. "Kevin?" Bruce asked, pleasantly surprised. Kevin smiled and said, "hey Dad. I'm back for spring break." Bruce remembered the date of spring break for all the schools and colleges in Gotham and said, "oh right, of course! Forgive me Kevin, my job as Batman has made me forget certain things regarding your schedule. But it's good to see you, son. Welcome home." Kevin hugged his father and said, "it's good to see you and Alfred too, Dad." The month before Kevin was to start his junior year in college, his adoptive brother Jason Todd was murdered by The Joker. Losing Jason was devastating for everyone, especially Kevin. But Kevin was able to get through the grief while attending college. If anything, the college work gave him something to do, even when he had to acknowledge his grief.

"Want me to cook up some burgers and catch up?" Kevin asked. "I'd like that," said Bruce, "a cheeseburger sounds good right now." Kevin smiled and said while doing his best impression of Matthew McConaughey, "well alright, alright, alright. I'll give you guys your usual toppings." He went to the kitchen as Alfred chuckled, "he's starting to sound like his old self again." Bruce gave a small smile and said, "good." A couple minutes later, Kevin had prepared three cheeseburgers for himself, Bruce, and Alfred as he said, "it's burger time! Get 'em while they're hot!" The three gentlemen went to the dining table to eat their cheeseburgers and sat down. While they were eating, Bruce asked, "how have you been holding up son? How's college treating you?" After taking a bite of his cheeseburger, Kevin said, "college has been treating me fine. Sometimes I have good days, and sometimes I've had bad days. The dean offered counseling for me, but I told them I wanted to stick with Dinah since she's the counselor I like speaking to. Especially since she's the closest I have to a mom right now..." When Bruce adopted Kevin, he knew his son would need someone to speak to for the benefit of his mental health. And given that Dinah Lance, AKA the Black Canary, was a licensed counselor, she offered to be Kevin's therapist to confide in for his mental health. She did it out of sympathy and respect for Bruce, understanding that the circumstances were hard for him and Kevin. And as Kevin said, Dinah was the closest Kevin had to a mother figure. A year after Andrea was arrested and was to be sentenced, Andrea snapped, renounced her Catholicism and faith in God, and broke out of jail, becoming The Phantasm again, this time as a freelance assassin for hire, the first to suffer under her wrath was AJ O'Reilly.

"I'm glad to know you're still seeing Dinah," commended Bruce, "it's good to know that you're taking care of your mental health." Kevin nodded and said, "you and her and Alfred have helped me come to grips with my mom. And she's been helping me come to grips with Jason's death. I still miss him, Dad. But at least Dinah is helping me with my grief." Bruce looked glumly and said, "I miss Jason too, Kevin. It makes me glad that I have Barbara as a partner in crime fighting. Batgirl helps Batman be more stable and levelheaded. Even if we don't see eye to eye." Once he had another bite, Kevin said, "oh I was going to ask, how's Barbara doing? The day before I came back, I spoke to Dick. He and Kory have moved in to a new apartment recently. He's doing really well." Bruce swallowed his burger and said, "Barbara's also doing well. I'm surprised you haven't reached out to her yet." Kevin shrugged and said, "well, I wanted to see you first. After lunch, I'm going to go talk to Dinah and let her know how I'm doing, mentally speaking." Bruce thought about the case that he was working on, and he said, "actually Kevin, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. It's regarding a case that Barbara and I are working on. We're dealing with a criminal known as Paris Franz." Kevin gave a sour look and asked, "Paris Franz? Pardon my language, but... What kind of dumbass name is Paris Franz? Is this guy trying to compensate for something?" Bruce gave his stoic look and said, "he's the nephew to criminal mob boss Carlos Francesco. And from what I've read, quite dangerous. Sociopathic and narcissistic, a dangerous combination. He's like the kind of bully I wouldn't want you dealing with in school when you were young. I haven't had to deal with this kind of crazy in a while. Kevin, I need you to keep Barbara safe. Can you do that for me?"