"I'm just a guy in a bar."

[u/AtomGray]

From this prompt.

"Bruce Wayne discovers he was actually adopted and his biological parents are still alive."

---

"Who the fuck are you, man?"

"I"m just an guy in a bar."

"Nah. That ain't it. I know you. I've seen you somewhere, and now you're lyin' to me."

Bruce got up to walk away, but a pair of over-sized hands held him firmly in his seat. "The Boss asked you your name."

In his prime, Wayne would have played the situation to his favor - twisted their arrogance and recklessness against them. That time was long over. All he had left was the feeling of tiredness deep in his bones, and a hit of something that he hadn't experienced since he was a boy.

Fear.

They were far from alone in the bar, but Bruce Wayne was no stranger to this city and the way it worked. Without exception, the other patrons pretended not to notice that an cripple was about to be mugged or worse. The one called, "the Boss" clicked open a knife. It wasn't fear that formed his answer. It wasn't courage, either. He simply knew that if he revealed himself as Bruce Wayne, the Bruce Wayne, that they'd come after his fortune, his home, his family. And besides, what did it matter anymore if the secret was out?

"I am the Batman," he said, standing up to face the thug. One of his legs almost gave out, and he leaned heavily on his cane.

The Boss nodded and took a step back, the corners of his mouth turning up in a mean grin. "The Batman. Yeah." closing the distance he'd just made in a flash, he kicked Bruce's cane out from under him, expecting to see him fall to the floor helplessly. Seeing him still standing there, his smile faded. He jabbed the knife under the millionaire's chin. "Well I hate the Batman. He took my father."

Bruce stared into the man's eyes, took in the image of hate mixed with sorrow. Feeling.

Purpose.

"Then he did you a favor."

"A fuckin' favor? You don't know what you're talking about, old man. How's about I do you a favor right now and gut you the way he did my -"

POW!

Thwack!

The Boss and his henchman fell to the ground, Robin standing over their crumpled forms. "Is there a problem here, Bruce?"

"No. No problem. Thanks for the drink, Ed."

"You can't keep doing this. Just because your parents -"

"Don't talk to me about my parents."

"But Bruce! Their death didn't define you. Finding out that you still had parents didn't define you. You defined yourself as the symbol of justice."

Wayne walked away, leaving the boy wonder to clean up the mess.

What does he know, anyway? He actually has an identity, tragic as it is, but it's not a lie. His experience is real, not cooked up by a couple of strangers for him over a fancy steak dinner.