Bruce nodded heavily. "Tests, scans... all of it. He's mine. Not that I really needed it." He waved at the screen. "I was sure before I even saw him in person. It's not just me - he looks like her, too." Looking around the Cave, his eyes focused the the spot he'd last seen her; where Talia had appeared only the night before.
"She came here last night, to confirm everything; who he was, what he's destined for. What she'd done." Bruce closed his eyes again. "I told her to go. Go, and if I ever saw her or her father again, I'd make them think death was a blessing."
He heard the question; didn't want to answer it and certainly couldn't open his eyes for it. "She didn't..." Bruce stopped and cleared his throat. "Talia didn't carry him. Our DNA was combined and Damian gestated in a tube. She tells me he was raised without the 'distraction' of physical affection, seeking only the praise of his masters. He killed his first enemy-" Bruce stopped again, his eyes opening, hard and cold as he forced himself to look at Clark.
"-killed his first enemy at the age of four. By beheading. He's been educated in sensory depravation tanks, he's never been around other children, and he's been raised to believe that he's not only heir to the Demon's Head, but the Batman's Legacy, the Wayne Dynasty, and a Prince of Gotham. He knows nothing of empathy, or mercy, or generosity, or compassion. He's self-entitled, coldly logical, deadly violent - he's exactly the reason I said no to Talia when she asked me to, to... sire an heir with her in the first place."
Bruce fell silent, everything in him hurting, his stomach aching so much he bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Rubbing his face with both hands, he ignored the suspicious prickling behind his eyes as he steepled his fingers and rested his chin in his thumbs. "But he's so Goddamned smart, Clark. He's so... and he wants so badly to be accepted, I'm just terrified I'm going to say or do the wrong thing. He keeps talking about proving himself, and not letting me down, and I don't even... I don't know what to do with him."