Archive of Our Own ^beta

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Bruce. What the hell? What am I seeing on the news right now? Is this—is this real? There’s—there’s no way—where—where are you, Bruce? Come home—please, please—fuck. You better come home—please, Dad. You better be on your way home.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“B! You—did you—it wasn’t you, was it? Come home! Dick’s freaking out—I—maybe I am, too.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Bruce. It’s—It’s Barbara. Tell me the truth. Is he—is—is the Joker really dead?”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Master Bruce. Please relay to Miss Al Ghul that I am grateful. I won’t have him hurting any more of my family, if there is one person who is undeserving of life, it is him, sir. ”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Talia—what the fuck did you do?”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Habibi, it has been done. Please bring your brother to Location J.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Jason—Habibi. Perhaps it is time to let them know.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Fuck. Talia! Stop screening my calls! What the fuck are you talking about?! You can’t—I can’t do this—I can’t—you needa call me back, T.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Mother. I do not believe it is an adequate time for Akhi to reveal himself yet. It is—I am fine. With—with waiting. I do not need to meet Father yet if Akhi is not—perhaps call him back, Mother.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Dick, please calm down. I am on my way home. Just have to finish up things here.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Fuck this—Talia, I’m dropping Dames off at the Manor. You wanna talk? We’ll talk, but I’m leaving Damian out of it. Call me back.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Bruce? It’s Dick. Uhh, you’re on your way, right? ETA? There’s, um. There’s a—uh. There’s a kid. On the—at the front doors of the Manor. I don’t—um. Alf is taking him inside. Hurry up and get home already—this is—this is above my pay grade or something. And—I mean, I haven’t told you yet, but I saw this kid—I saw him. In the Narrows, a couple of weeks ago. B. Bruce—He kinda looks like you.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Akhi. How dare you leave me here without you. I have relayed to you time and time again that I would wait until you were sufficiently ready. You must come back and retrieve me this instant. We were supposed to talk to Mother together, Akhi. You—you promised you would not leave me behind. You promised.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Dami—kid I’m sorry. It’s—I promise I’m not leaving you for long, Hermanito. I just—I need to figure out some—some things. I’m sorry, Dames. I’ll—I’ll talk to you soon. Love you, kiddo.”

—

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BEEEEP

“I am not a child, Akhi.”

—

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BEEEEP

“Hi Jason—It’s, uh. It’s Tim again. I—we met Damian. He won’t tell us but—he was, uh. He was with you, wasn’t he? Um. I don’t, I’m not sure how to ask him, ‘cause he’s real prickly about questions, and Dick is real focused on the fact that Bruce had a kid, so I haven’t told him ‘bout you either, um. It’s—it’s absolutely insane to think that you’re actually back, because I haven’t really got any solid confirmation that you are, but—I can’t. It was you. I saw you. At least I think I did. And whatever’s—whatever is going on, I’m uh. I’m here. I don’t—um. I don’t even know if you’re getting these messages, because Damian won’t tell me anything, but—you’re—you should call someone back—probably at least Damian—if he was actually with—with you. Man, I—I really hope it's you.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Talia. You—Damian is—why didn’t you tell me?”

—

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BEEEEP

“Dick? What are these blood tests you’re running in the Cave? Is this that kid you and Tim were stalking? Is he—is he Bruce’s? Answer the phone or I’m hacking the Cave’s sound system.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Alf, hey. It’s Dick. Can you amend the grocery list a bit? I was talking with the Little Bat and he’s a vegetarian, I think, so if we could maybe get more vegetarian-friendly dishes for the little tyke that would be great. Thanks!”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Mother. Have you seen Akhi recently? He will not respond to my messages or calls. I am—it is worrying. Father’s brood is becoming smothering.”

—

“At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, press pound for more options.”

BEEEEP

“Dick, It’s Tim. Um. I know it’s been crazy lately, but, uh. I mean—with Damian and all—but we never—Bruce never debriefed us on what happened with Joker—I mean, I can kinda just connect the dots already—but don’t—shouldn’t we, uh. Shouldn’t we—I feel like we should talk about this. Maybe we should call a family meeting? There are, uh. There are some things I should also probably tell everyone too—um. Let me know what you think. Thanks.”