#anyway i feel like Damian would feel intense Emotions upon seeing Matt and Terry

[lazlolullaby]

late hatching, a Batman Beyond and Batfam concept

I think i made myself clear as mud in my last post that the Batfam as it stands now in the comics does not mesh with the DCAU timeline.

but that doesn't mean the batfam can't come to Terry.

Special thanks to this fic (slice of life where Bruce is younger, has the fam but can't go vigilante anymore so they hire Terry to babysit) https://archiveofourown.org/works/44548396/chapters/112054687

and this series. (Balances dark and light very well, even if the Batfam grow and protect Gotham, Terry still gets the cowl) https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710604

So. Here's Cake #3!!! Ya'll enjoy and if you make something i'd be happy to see it!

TL;DR: Cassandra steals a delayed Damian from the League of Assassins, reunites him with his elderly genetic donor, and decides to stick around. Dick decides that he should probably keep a closer eye on the manor. More people come out if the dark streets of Gotham, ready to fight to keep it safe.

Batman II gains Pranking Auntie Black Bat, Worried Uncles Grayson and Drake, Mob Parents Jason and Roy, the gossipy PIs Signal and Spoiler, and Murder Child Robin. Terry gets an existential crisis, Matt gets a some emotional and physical wounds, and Mary gets some inheritance money.

AKA: Beyond limited capes AU.

From the top, chronologically:

Cassandra lost her chance to train with Batman. He refused, after the Incident with Tim Drake and the Joker. Even though she was a trained fighter, he can't risk it. He can't risk anyone. He points her in the right direction for help and keeps tabs like he does.

Cassandra is adopted by Nightwing and becomes the Batgirl of Bludhaven, eventually Black Bat on her own, focusing on saving other children forced into a life of cloak and dagger.

(Jason Todd was never written into the DCAU shows. He and Tim Drake were condensed for reasons. But let's presume he was there the whole time. They were friends on the streets. He was late trying to help Tim find out what was in the locker. He remembers Robin later trying to help him before suddenly leaving. Overlooked by Batman, thus overlooked by the Joker, the League of Assassins, and heroics in general. But he survived. Saw all of the pain and anger and just decided to run his little piece of Gotham how he likes it. No starving kids. No heroes or villains. Absolutely no Jokerz. Roy Harper comes to break it up but then goes: hey I'm sorry but the Drug Lord just got me clean off drugs so I'm gonna marry him.) They are older gay mob grandpas with their daughter Lian.

Since the Joker is dead, Duke's parents are not affected by the Venom. He still has an interest in vigilantes. He was able to track what happened to Robin. Batman scares him off, but he's still determined to help. So like comics canon, Bruce points him to learning opportunities. He ends up becoming a Private Investigator, of Signal and Spoiler fame.

Batman saves Stephanie Brown from her shot at the cape. They also work closely with Barbara Gordon. Stephanie is also an investigative journalist and busts open several mob and villain rings with the help of Duke, Jason, and silent help from Batman.

Cadmus sees all of these new Robins keep getting denied left and right. Concerned that Batman was needed, they go ahead with Project Batman Beyond.

Bruce discovers this. He creates a false paper trail. A company was illegally creating clones/children of the rich for blood transfusions and organ transplants. And the occasional "long lost heir" con. It was easy enough to add Terry and Matt to the list before exposing them.

Bruce went over to the Mcginnis household with a lawyer and an NDA. Terry and Matt don't have a legal right to the Family Fortune, but they do have a small trust fund to be given when they're 18. (small is relative when you're rich.)

Terry grows up. He gets the job at Wayne Manor. (With Mary's blessing, of course.)

Terry tracks down Dick Grayson and they have a agreement about weekly emails. He never comes to Gotham. (Batman II, fighting Nightwing: PER MY LAST EMAIL-) Dick doesn't show up at the Manor at all. Not until Terry sees him scrubbing the Joker Graffiti off of the Batcave walls.

Now everything after this is post-ROTJ movie.

And then. Damian. The League of assassins has been trying to recreate Batman as well. But all of the clones consistently die around their 8th birthday. So the project was delayed by decades. They accepted a work around with the splicing tech. Damian wasn't originally related to Bruce and Talia. But they overwrote his DNA to truly make him the Heir. They were training him to take over the Batman mantle - he wasn't ready to do it yet, but then Terry as Batman II pops up. Damian is angry. Cassandra is able to sneak in and use that to smuggle him out to Gotham.

so now the Manor starts filling up with Dick, Cass, Damian, and occasionally Tim and Terry gets moved to a less hectic shift. He's bounced off of solo vigilante status and now has to contend with Cassandra and Damian following him around.

The official story is that the Cloning and corporate espionage happened and now Dick Grayson came back to Gotham to help his elderly father raise his clone and handle his affairs. He brought his security detail, Cassandra. Also they get Titus the emotional support dog for Damian.

Mary Mcginnis calls Bruce and renegotiates the terms of the NDA, since the cat's out of the bag. She sits Terry and Matt down and tells them that they're not genetically related to Warren. Terry. Does not take it well. Matt is confused and sad.

Damian hears about this and tries to kill Matt both as a "thing the League trained him to do" and "he's like me why does he get to be happy?" anger and jealousy over his life.

Batman II is seen wrangling a brightly colored child and demanding that he not stab his brother. Matt recognizes the wrangling and figures out who's under the cowl.

There are now officially two Robins. Pray you get the one without a sword.

(that's it it's just Terry adjusting from being a Single Child of Batman to being a Middle Child of the Batfam)