Something that has been on my mind

[Castiel]

So I read a comic a while back about Batman getting dosed with fear toxin except it didn't affect him the usual way. Instead he gave up the cowl or was willing to I think and he fell in love with a woman and it turned out she was a black widow type killer (which I think was a cop out or bad writing because it seemed to coincidental) and after Alfred opened his eyes to the truth Bruce got really pissed and beat the crap out of Scarecrow. I am curious though if the woman wasn't a serial killer planning to kill him and take his money how would Bruce have handled the situation? I mean I can't imagine him growing close to some poor woman ignorant of the situation and just breaking her heart after he was cured of whatever made him act that way. However I am intrigued by the idea of Bruce being under the influence of something and it causing him to develop a relationship to the point where he'd get engaged and be willing to have a normal life though I don't see a scenario where things could end well.

[K Nikk]

So I read a comic a while back about Batman getting dosed with fear toxin except it didn't affect him the usual way. Instead he gave up the cowl or was willing to I think and he fell in love with a woman and it turned out she was a black widow type killer (which I think was a cop out or bad writing because it seemed to coincidental) and after Alfred opened his eyes to the truth Bruce got really pissed and beat the crap out of Scarecrow. I am curious though if the woman wasn't a serial killer planning to kill him and take his money how would Bruce have handled the situation? I mean I can't imagine him growing close to some poor woman ignorant of the situation and just breaking her heart after he was cured of whatever made him act that way. However I am intrigued by the idea of Bruce being under the influence of something and it causing him to develop a relationship to the point where he'd get engaged and be willing to have a normal life though I don't see a scenario where things could end well.

I could see he would still break it off. I imagine at that time in the comics he didn't believe it was safe or possible for him to be married and be Batman (especially with someone who was clueless about Batman). I would imagine in this situation the relationship is massively accelerated to get from meeting someone, to falling in love and getting engaged that quickly, therefore neither side may have put the amount of thought into whether the relationship worked or how well they knew each other and so the dissolution may have no real lasting effect.

If it had been someone he knew for a long time and that this had been a possibility he thought about but being Batman prevented it, then I could see him still breaking it off (to protect the other person, to protect the secrecy of Batman) but being more affected by it. It would ruin whatever relationship they had had before this. It might make him more rueful that he got a chance to know what life might have held for him and maybe leave him bitter and wishing he didn't get to have a taste of that. I could see that making him more cautious to prevent attachments in the future.

Now, an interesting way of looking at this is that the drive he has being Batman could be seen as an intoxication or external influence. If his parents were never killed would he have become batman? If he dealt with their passing in a healthier way would he have become Batman? If he could let go of the pain that appears to drive him could he sustain his almost inhuman dedication to being Batman? If he was dosed with something that didn't alter his natural state, but cured an unnatural state that has driven him for years (and therefore not something that can just be easily undone), would he be able to KEEP being Batman?

In the animated episode Perchance to Dream he seems to embrace the second chance that he feels he has, to lead a normal life. Of course we don't see how far that goes because he realizes fairly soon that he is dreaming, but at least shows that if the driving forces of being Batman are removed, leading a normal life is something that he may desire.