grumpyoldbat | Unexpected Guest(s?).

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Unexpected Guest(s?).

Bruce had been sent home, more or less, by Terry. His own son had straight up told him to go home and rest, that he and Damian would handle the patrols of the other dimension and make sure THAT Bruce was staying down, as he was told (but surely not without some force). It wasn't as though Bruce didn't have things to do in his own time and dimension anyway, a few having to do with the other, information he had to gather from the data base in hopes of getting these murders figured out and one less things on the other Bruce's plate to worry about.

So far, he had nothing. That was a disheartening feeling.

And granted, he didn't just need to research, he probably did need the rest. Damned if he was going to let that keep him from what needed to be done, however.

Other people were worse off than him right now and that was the important factor in all of this.

Glancing over the computer holo displays, Bruce noticed the warning up in the corner. A rift had been opened. Strange, only he and Tony had the capabilities in this dimension to do that, aside from Zee...

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Turning over in bed, Bruce sighed. There was a familiar smell of moisture in the air and dust settled into the cushions of antique furniture. It reminded him of the mansion, of Gotham; home.

Though as he opened his eyes, Bruce discovered that he had traded going to bed with Harvey in the pocket dimension for waking up in his own bed, without him. His throat seized dryly, he could remember them all ... he could remember!

Throwing the sheets off, even as they vined around his ankle, causing him to stumble as he dragged them off the bed and across the floor with him, Bruce picked up the nearest pen and piece of paper and began to write short hand notes before the memory of the place was stripped from his mind. Everyone else had been from his future (or that of another universe), he had listened to their stories and experiences and now, Bruce had the opportunity to adjust certain errors ... he wouldn't have to make the same mistakes ... as long as he could remember.

Ace, who had been at Bt's feet, straightened and bound up the steps from the cave to the manor. Bt ran a hand over his face, that dog still thought he was a damn puppy with the way he was taking those steps. Following closely behind, two and three steps at a time, Bt made it to the top with Ace in a matter of seconds.

Whoever or whatever had opened the rift was obviously in the manor, as Ace was acting like a puppy, and he hadn't done this since they visited the other dimension, with the younger Bruce...

Ace sniffed ahead, bounding up the steps to the top floor, skittering down the hall way, and barging into the master bedroom. His wet nose was seeking out a familiar and yet very foreign smell. He sniffed and sniffed and finally.

Ace looked up at Bruce with big blue eyes, panting as he licked the man's hand, sloppy and wet. Bt was just steps behind, now standing in the door way with a look of pure annoyance and disapproval clearly etched into his brow.

Great. Another one.

"Wait Hugo" Bruce said in a mumbled, automatically responding to the large dog, even though it was not the harlequin Great Dane from the pocket dimension.

"Alfred, I need-" Bruce locked eyes with the other man. Not Alfred. Keeping the pen between his fingers, Bruce frowned slightly at the other man. This was unexpected. He would make sense of this situation easily if he wasn't already so preoccupied with salvaging and mentally archiving two years worth of information.

"Tommy?" Bruce inquired coldly, preparing for the worst.

Ace paused, head canted and looking up at Bruce with a confused little gaze. That wasn't his name, how dare he! He barked, low and weak, age showing through, if the blue/gray and silver hairs weren't enough to bring notice to the dogs age.

"I'd prefer if you didn't address me as that lunatic," Bt offered in a steady, stern tone. He was aware how it would seem from an outsider's point of view, strange at it were. Especially another Bruce who had dealt with the likes of Elliot himself. Those were not memories Bt wanted either.

Ace huffed and sauntered back over to Bt, who placed a hand on his head, scratching him behind the ears. "And unfortunately, Alfred is no longer with us."

Now that he heard the other man speak, Bruce recognized the steady, calm growl to the other man's voice. Even the commanding presence he had with the dog. "No introductions needed, then."

Unfortunately though, Bruce was still out of his time. This wasn't his home, even if it looked like it. "Perhaps the displacement will correct itself." He offered returning to his writing and walking out of the bedroom, knowing how little he would welcome the situation if it were reversed.

"As fond a thought as that might be, it rarely does," he explained, only turning to watch after him curiously. Ace looked up at Bt with the same sort of expression in his eyes; Bt shrugged down at the dog. As awkward as this should be, it really wasn't.

At least not anymore.

"If you happen to know you universe's current time and dimension number, I might be able to help you." He didn't bother to go after the other Bruce, Bt just leaned into the door jam. He'd rather help this Bruce get home than place their luck on it correcting itself. Whenever that might be. If ever.

Bruce lifted his head slightly, fisting the pen and paper in one hand as he reached for the door knob to another room. "Which Earth is this?" That was promising. Though not every inhabitant would be familiar with the multiverse or the designation of their particular Earth, it stood to reason that the Bruce of this time would know.

Opening the door, Bruce shifted his jaw upon discovering a guest room instead of what he was looking for, "And do you have access to the second floor library or not?"

"553," he answered, still just watching. The second floor was mostly old maid chambers, Alfred's hold room, guest rooms, and the like. He'd come to realize like some months ago that not all the manor were exactly a like from in every dimension.

"One library. Downstairs next to the study in the south east corner," he answered. Ace took to approaching and sniffing around the other Bruce carefully, having but put off before, but now more curious.

Of course, Bt knew of the multiverse, he and Tony pretty much invented the devices some years back to get hop dimensions. A little known thing that barely anyone but a few of the Wayne children knew about and were allowed to use.

"953" Bruce answered back. In the grand scheme of things, it likely meant they shared a great deal of similarities.

Offering the side of his hand to the dog, Bruce volunteered a few grains of information, "I've just spent two years trapped" and trapping Batman anywhere, for any length of time was (until then) unheard of "in a pocket dimension." And he had been looking forward to going home that entire time, only to be misplaced in the process. "How is it, you believe you can help me?"

That was helpful, he could easily help this Bruce find his way back home. If home was where he wanted to go. Bt finally pushed away from the door jam and started down the stairs.

"Trapped," he repeated. "I developed dimensional teleporters about ten years ago with a friend. I've been hopping to another dimension to help out recently. Given the right Earth number and time you want to go back to, you should be able to get home without any hitches."

Even with Clark's willingness to finally share Kryptonian technology with him, early simulation had proven unstable. Bruce followed his older self, with the older black dog at his side. "If you say Hal Jordon I might kick you in the back of the head out of reflex." Bruce said dryly.

Bt's face actually screwed up in disgruntled frown. "Jordon? No." Bt didn't play nice with any of the JL these days or for the last fifteen years. He let that go Lane a long, long time ago. And Kent. Augh, just the thought of that asshole made his blood boil.

That was not the point right now. "Stark, actually." He reached the bottom and headed toward the study, Ace padding along with loyal respect to both Bruce's.

"I assume you were also able to help cure him of his poisoning from the palladium toxicity." With the freedom of resources available to them, Bruce was sure it had only taken the two men a long weekend to troubleshoot; if it had been the case on this Earth.

"Never an issue," he stated. "He had Extremis shortly before we figured that might have been a problem for him." Though had it been a problem, yes it would have been dealt with.

"Are you here alone or does my presence need to be explained?" Bruce asked, walking around in his home in his silk pyjamas would be easily accepted except for that fact that it was not technically his home, and there were two of them walking around.

He shook his head, entering the study. "Alone. As I mentioned, Alfred's been gone for a few years. None of the kids live here anymore. Haven't for years. Just Ace and I on most days." And Zee, when she wasn't in her own time, but that wasn't really worth mentioning.

There it was. "How many kids."

Bt stopped, he actually had to mentally count this now because there was that knew he didn't know about recently. How many was it now? "Six. Two aren't technically my own, however."

Bruce wasn't sure he shared the same technicality, even so ... he only knew about the four boys, not six. "Richard is the only one from my time. Though, I met three others in the pocket dimension."

Bt could have sworn he sensed a bit of annoyance in that last part -- that was almost amusing. "Which three?" Could hurt to see which were neutrally the same.

"Jason Todd. Timothy Drake. And ... Damian." Never mind the girls. The boys had explained how they fit in and even met Stephanie Brown, though had not be impressed by her nor her role in the future.

He knew all but Jason. That was a foreign name to him. "Don't know the first."

"Not even while dimension jumping?" Interesting. Had Jason really been a unique case? Perhaps. "Who are the other two, for you?" Trading intelligence would be easy enough, if they could find it within themselves to trust each other.

"I don't do a lot of hopping, actually. Case by case, and the few I've been to haven't had him." He paused a moment, he for a fact that his personal children were unique to only a few other dimensions, maybe not even that.

"My daughter, Addison, and my son, Terry." There was also the one he just found out about, but he hardly knew her as his daughter and only met her once. Really not going there right now.

The term daughter and son were strange to Bruce, even though he regarded Dick as his son, it was still sensitive ground for both of them; the title was used privately, internally, mostly.

Bruce had no knowledge of either of the names. "How old are they?"

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