To see him cry - Part 2

Bruce was trying so hard to hide his feelings that anyone could read them on his face. That last remark almost brought tears into his eyes, and to say the truth, in all of our eyes. His only subterfuge to not to look up was his pot of tea which he never seemed to finish

"Oh, so you have a son!" Diana asked trying to shift the focus of Mr.Wayne off Bruce.

"Yeah! He is my pride and joy, our pride and joy! His name is Bruce too!" saying that, he turned to Bruce, "What a phenomenal coincidence!"

Bruce's silence was only making it difficult for them. None of us understood what Thomas Wayne wanted to hear from him

"My father served in the New York Police Department, sir! Bruce is the name of his best friend. My father told me that he was perhaps the bravest of men, willing to give up his life for his fellow human beings and for his country. He was the world's greatest detective, and was hard on criminals, but never believed in taking a life. He shunned the lime light, and was only worried about his work. My father wanted me to become a great man like him. That's why the name."

Bruce started off tensed but as he unfolded the story, he seemed at ease. Of course we all knew that he was describing himself, not any friend of his father! We in the league always had reverence for him for these qualities, but I never thought he was so positive about himself. I was tempted to laugh to see him beat his own drum, but yes, everything he said was true to the word.

But Thomas Wayne exploded the scene with his next question. "What is your father's name?"

"John McGill", Bruce replied calmly. Thomas Wayne's features changed as though the name rang a bell, "You mean, the John McGill! I read a lot about him in the news papers. He was like a hero of his times. The crime rate was close to zero in New York when he was the commissioner"

"Yes, sir! The same John McGill". I saw that Bruce had done some homework brooding over his tea. He was completely confident about his answer. "Sir, but I request you to keep this a secret. I am a secret agent, I really shouldn't have told you but I thought I owed it to you after all that you have done for me. After my father's death, no one ever heard if another McGill again, since my mother and I were living in London while he was here. He did not let anyone come close to his personal life and as a secret agent, it is an obligation for me to follow my father's path. I'd prefer if you'd dropped this here, or I might even have to be forced to remove this information from your brain, forcefully! Believe me, that is not a good experienced to have your brain washed!"

We were stunned at Bruce's answer. He had not only averted any other possible questions elegantly, but also had justified his silence and discomfort which were raising speculations in Thomas Wayne's mind. And most importantly, he did that with what can be called the force of a real secret govt agent, but we knew it was Batman style.

"I am extremely sorry, sir! I really didn't mean to  get into your professional space. Rest assured, your secret is safe with me, as it is with the rest of your friends!"

"Bruce! I think you were a little too hard on our generous host." Diana protested, "you can't talk to everyone like you talk to me!"

Bruce could only throw a cold glance. He was not ready for this.

"You know what, we really didn't ask you who you are!" Mrs. Wayne exclaimed bringing the little Bruce in the baby chair. He had a bib in his mouth, his eyes were moist suggesting that he cried for his mother. For one second, everyone was lost in admiration for perhaps the most beautiful baby boy on earth! He looked at all of us in a circle and suddenly chuckled. We couldn't help smiling.

Thomas Wayne tried to offer an explanation for her last remark, but Diana took over and went on introducing us all.

"I am Diana Kent, and this is..." she pointed towards me.

"Your brother, I presume!" Thomas Wayne interrupted.

"Oh please do carry on. Tom loves to play detective at times!"

I must admit, no one ever thought of looking at us like siblings before! Bruce must've been happy at this.

"You were right, sir! He is my elder brother, Clarke Kent. We live in Smallville, farming."

"Oh, no wonder he looks so tough" Thomas was exclaimed.

"And she is Shayera, Shayera West and her little brother, Wally West. They live in Central City."

"I am not little..." Flash protested. Others laughed. It was like they had agreed upon their roles. I preferred to remain silent.

"And this is John Stuart, he is a soldier! He is Shayera's fiance". Both of them blushed at this remark. I could only awe at the ease with which Diana was making it up . "And this is Jonn Jones, archeologist, a friend of our father!"

Martha Wayne seemed to be convinced with the explanation, but from what I could gather, Thomas Wayne was speculating about whether or not to put the next obvious question, how we were related and what we were doing in Gotham.

Diana put him at ease.

"Clark, Shayera and I went to the same school in Central city."

That covered how four of us were related, may be even five.

"Shayera worked as a military doctor, and she met John during the war."

6 down, one to go! I knew this was the toughest, as Bruce was a secret agent from a different continent.

" And as for Bruce, he doesn't want me to tell!" she cleanly escaped! The pressure was on Bruce now. She smirked.

"I guess you two are..." this time it was Martha Wayne and her expression was suggestive.

"I don't have time for relationships", Bruce protested in a typical Batman style.

"She never mentioned relationship", Diana crossed. The Waynes were satisfied, looked at each other and smiled. Little Bruce, who was till then observing everything around him wide eyed suddenly began to chuckle and clap with joy!






<to be continued. This is a new experiment I am performing with these characters. Do leave comments so that I know whether to go on with it>