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“This is my baby brother, Alice. Which makes him your Uncle Danny.”
“Uncle Danny, meet Alex.”
“Who’s this little one?” “This is Mallory.”
“Frank, meet our Uncle Danny.”
“This is Deborah, the newest addition to our family.”
“Hello, Grace, I’m your Uncle Danny.”
“If you ever need anything, Skye, you can always call Uncle Danny.”
“Please, Uncle Danny, you’re our last hope to get Shelly to safety.”
“Charlie, this is Uncle Danny. He raised me.”
“Uncle Danny has watched over our family for a long time, Rosa. He will always keep you safe.”
“And this Johnny is Danny. He’s our uncle.”
“Uncle Danny, this is my daughter, Martha.”
-
Danny looked down at the baby boy in his arms. He was Martha’s son. Martha who he loved as much as if she were his own. He lover every member of his family but sometimes there were ones he helped raise so much that they were practically his own child. And Martha was one. Her parents had been so busy that they had needed more help than they expected. And Danny was more than happy to be that help.
He needed the break from the Infinite Realms. Every few decades he spent most of his time there, he needed a few in the human realm. He didn’t want to lose touch with his humanity. But at the same time he couldn’t let people see his lack of aging.
But it had been nearly half a century since the last time he had an extended period on Earth. So he took the one Martha gave him with open arms. She was as close to him as a daughter.
Which meant this baby was as close to him as a grandson. Even if it was time for Danny to return to the Infinite Realms for a while. He would still visit. But he was starting to drift. He needed his anchor and he needed his other home. So this little one would only know him as a distant grandfather. At least for the first years of his life.
“What’s his name?” Danny asked.
“Bruce,” Martha said.
She was glowing with pride and happiness over having her little boy. And Danny could not be prouder of her. She had grown up into a wonderful woman. Which made the inevitable goodbye so much harder.
“How long will you be gone for?” she asked.
“A year,” Danny said. “And I will only come back yearly for at least half a decade.”
“I’ll miss you,” she said. “And you’ll miss so much of his life.”
“I know, dearest. But I must. As soon as I am able I will stay longer.”
“I know. It’s just going to be so hard without you here.”
“It will go faster than you could imagine.”
-
Years passed with Danny visiting once a year. So, he only saw snapshots of young Bruce’s childhood. Martha thrived as a mother. She loved Bruce with all her heart and it showed. He was a happy boy having a happy childhood.
Until the visit when he wasn’t.
He had been coming with happy news. He was stable enough to stay and only take occasional visits to the Infinite Realms. He would get to be the grandfather to Bruce that he wanted so badly to be.
But then he arrived. And the air to the manor belonging to Martha’s husband was different. No longer was there an atmosphere of joy and happiness. But one of despair. Danny had no idea what to think.
He needed to find Martha.
He used a bit of his powers to trace her location. And followed the path through Gotham. And paused when he reached the gates of the Gotham Cemetery. He hoped that she was just visiting. That someone else was there in the ground.
But he knew before he reached the spot that it was Martha who was buried. Next to her husband.
Danny sat on the graves and stared at the stones with their engraved words. Both had died the same day. Probably an accident. Gotham drivers were not the best.
He had no idea how long he sat there. More than a day for sure. But eventually footsteps sounded behind him. There were two sets that stopped not far behind him.
“Uncle Danny,” a small voice asked.
Danny turned around and looked over his shoulder. Behind him stood Bruce. There was no mistaking him for anyone else. He looked so much like his mother. So much like Danny himself even though they were separated by so many generations of their family. He was broken inside. The loss of his parents had hurt the boy so deeply that he may never truly move past it. Danny could see it in the wide blue eyes so close in color to his own. The one constant going all the way back to his sister and her daughter.
With him was the man he knew worked for the family. The butler. Alfred Pennyworth. Danny wasn’t surprised that the man had stayed with Bruce. He was closer to family than anyone else from what Martha had told him.
“Yeah, Bruce, it’s me.”
He had an armful of child. Bruce cried into him for a while. And Danny learned what really happened.
They hadn’t died in an accident. They were murdered.
Danny knew in that moment that he was going to stay as much as he possibly could. He would be there for Bruce even if it hurt him.
When Bruce had cried himself to sleep, Danny picked up the boy. Alfred silently led him back to the car. And drove them back to the manor. And led Danny to Bruce’s room and a guest room he could stay in.
Danny told him he planned to stay. Alfred said he had expected that.
-
They worked together surprisingly well. And Bruce grew into a strong young man. Danny had been right that he never truly healed from his parents’ deaths but that did not stop him. He learned and he trained. And eventually decided he wanted to go out on the streets to help those that couldn’t help themselves. That were not being helped by the world around them.
Danny and Alfred did not try to stop him. Danny knew he couldn’t. He remembered the days back when it was him doing that. While he did not want to join, he would be backup if Bruce ever needed him.
They designed a persona together and got the gear ready. Danny worried that he was doing the wrong thing encouraging this. But Alfred was at his side doing the same thing. It was a team effort. They could not stop him. And that worried Danny more. Had they done something wrong in raising him? Had Danny broken his promise to keep Bruce safe?
He worried and worried up until the day finally arrived. It was time for Bruce to reveal his new persona to the world.
As they watched Bruce drive off into the night as Batman for the first time, Alfred wrapped an arm around Danny's waist.
"We did alright," he said. "Our boy will be just fine."
And Danny believed him.