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Alfred Pennyworth ([info]raisingwayne) wrote in [info]utr_logs,
@ 2008-09-21 23:01:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:alfred pennyworth, bruce wayne, dick grayson

Who: Assorted Bat-Family Members
What: Bruce's return
Warnings: Bruce gonna get yelled at.

The man who was ostensibly Bruce Wayne twitched in his sleep. Alfred had been checking in periodically, tutting disapprovingly at the various scars his charge had acquired in the apparent years since his disappearance. Masters Dick the Elder and the Younger would occasionally pass by with concern, although the elder Master Dick had taken a few tissue samples as well.

"It's definitely him, Alfred. He's been gone for a while, wherever people go, and he's in far from perfect condition, but it's him. It's more than DNA. Cellular degeneration, radiographic..." Alfred tuned out to check Master Bruce's well-being while Dick continued on with his overly scientific explanations. "...fits his records as well as you could imagine. He's gained a couple of decades, but he's ours." He sighed. "Carrie's either going to kill him or never speak to him again."

"I suspect that, with time, Miss Carrie will stumble upon a third option, Master Dick." Alfred busied himself with a tea set while Master Dick considered his options. "In the meantime, perhaps some tea will calm you down."

"Thanks." He took the offered cup gladly. Dick began to feel better quickly, due in no small part to the fact that Alfred had been offering him the same cup of tea whenever he needed it since he was ten, and things had usually worked out. "Why did you pour three?" he asked, noticing suddenly that there was a spare cup.

"Because Master Bruce has been awake and listening for some time." Alfred dropped a lump of sugar into his tea and sipped it quietly. "I've seen you pretend to sleep several times, Master Bruce. I know what it looks like."


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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-22 06:43 am UTC (link)
Bruce gave a small smile, his eyes opening slowly to look at the two men. He reached out and, before Alfred could pick up Bruce's teacup, he grabbed the other man's hand and squeezed. It had been a while since he'd seen Alfred like this.

Mingled with the happiness of seeing his friend, there was something darker. He knew he wasn't in his world. He wasn't sure what all of it meant yet, but he intended to find out once the ringing in his ears died down.

"Thank you," he said, his voice hoarse. He sat up, not without some effort, and took his tea.

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[info]gothamboy
2008-09-22 04:26 pm UTC (link)
Bruce seemed calm, but that wasn't too unusual. This wouldn't be the weirdest thing that had happened in his lifetime, although it might just break the top ten list. And despite his age, Bruce seemed as strong and steady as ever; his hand gripped the teacup with the same surgeon's steadiness that Dick had come to expect. That wasn't particularly strange either; Dick had always imagined that Bruce would never age, but rather turn into an older version of himself.

What was strange was that it was very clearly Bruce looking at the two of them, and not Batman. Dick had any number of questions, but kept them to himself for the moment. "I should let everyone know that Bruce is awake," Dick told Alfred, letting himself out of the room.

When Dick was gone, Alfred gave Bruce a brief smile. "Well now, Master Bruce. Gave us quite a scare, you did. I should thank you not to freeze to death on any more mountainsides. It's just a lucky coincidence that Master Dick happened to be there." Alfred knew that it wasn't really Bruce's fault, but he only really had one reaction to near death experiences, and that was sarcasm.

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-22 10:32 pm UTC (link)
Bruce turned his head toward Dick as he left the room. He wasn't sure what to say to the younger man. Words had come so easily before between the two. He'd been awake maybe five minutes and he could already sense the distance that had been building for years.

"Sorry about that," he said, turning back to Alfred. "No more mountainsides. I'll try to keep that in mind."

His mind floated back to Dick's words. Everyone. Carrie.

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[info]raisingwayne
2008-09-23 03:33 pm UTC (link)
"Don't suppose you'll want to tell us where you've been and what you've been doing to end up so prematurely grey now, will you?" Alfred's plans for Master Bruce involved a lot of guilt, so he might as well know what he was going to be guilting him for ahead of time.

Dick, meanwhile, was having trouble calling people. Jason's message was, "If you're calling this phone, then you're family, and if you're family, then you know that I just got engaged and a clean bill of health. Cass' and my genitals are currently unavailable, but if you leave a message, they might call you back, which would be quite the trick." He probably wasn't going to answer.

His younger self had simply answered, "I'm falling off a building and trying to figure out how to survive before I hit the ground. I'll call you back." Which was pretty much in line with how Dick remembered his youth. Then there was Carrie, and he hesitated.

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-23 06:53 pm UTC (link)
"I don't know if 'premature' is the word I'd use. I'd say we're close to the same age now, Alfred, give or take a few years." Bruce was stalling. He hadn't quite formulated a way to explain where he had been. That would require evaluating the ways the two worlds were different, and he wasn't quite ready to face that, yet.

He was grateful for Alfred. The man would be indispensable when it came to deconstructing everything that had happened and working through the already apparent discord between Dick and himself.

"Gotham," he said after a pause. His voice was softer now, reflective. "A Gotham."

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[info]gothamboy
2008-09-23 09:39 pm UTC (link)
"Ah, well, that does explain matters, doesn't it? Strange that most people disappear with little if any notice, and yet you managed to write a note, but I am not surprised. I've been informed that you are, in fact, the Goddamn Batman, which likely assists in such matters." Depending on how long he'd been gone, it was possible that Bruce wouldn't know why he was supposed to feel guilty, but that would come sooner or later.

Dick walked back in and sat down near Bruce. "Couldn't get anyone. Well. I called Ollie, but he had a redhead screaming in the background about chili and her mouth being on fire, so I don't know if he got the message." He rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned to Bruce. "So what were you doing in Gotham for the past... twenty, thirty years?" Dick had never been afraid to speak his mind to Bruce, and wasn't going to stop now that he was an old man.

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-23 10:15 pm UTC (link)
Bruce rubbed his temples, leaning back against the wall. This was going to be a long night. There were very old memories he had to revisit now, whether he wanted to or not. It was difficult. "Plans.. changed." He wasn't sure what would have happened if the vortex hadn't taken him out of this world. He might have returned home after a few months of soul searching. He might have gotten himself killed somewhere. He couldn't say, it was so long ago.

He turned to Dick, his brow furrowing slightly. He had questions to ask. Things were coming back. Jason had been hurt. "Are they all right?" he asked before addressing the question. He took a breath, fighting to ignore the pain in his head. "Trying to make things better." It was a lame answer, but he was struggling to keep his head clear.

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[info]raisingwayne
2008-09-24 09:17 pm UTC (link)
"More or less. Physically. You've been gone for about a month and a half. No one's over it yet." Dick knew that Bruce was hiding something, and Dick had a few more cards to play than Bruce did, not least because his memories were fresh and Bruce's were ancient. "Jason just got his cast off. Robin is throwing himself into work, and Cass refuses to acknowledge she was even hurt. As for Carrie--"

"Enough," said Alfred. His voice wasn't sharp, but there was no arguing with it. "I understand that you children constantly need to feel like you are invulnerable, but Master Bruce has just gone through an ordeal, and he can be apprised of any new developments when he recovers. If you want that to happen any faster, Master Dick, you are more than welcome to fetch some pain medication. And you, Master Bruce, can resume lying back."

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-24 09:56 pm UTC (link)
"What about Carrie?" There was urgency in Bruce's voice; had he been ten years younger, it would've been a snarl. And oh yes, he was arguing with Alfred. He leaned forward, eyes narrowing. He worried about the others, of course, but he needed to know if Carrie was okay. She wasn't his Carrie, but she was still Carrie.

Had Alfred interrupted at another time, Bruce would likely have listened. He was on edge now, and if Dick walked out of the room now to get him pain killers, Bruce would find out whether or not his legs could hold him up while he chased Dick down.

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[info]gothamboy
2008-09-25 05:04 am UTC (link)
Alfred gave a long-suffering sigh and gently pushed Bruce back; being carried down a mountain had done few favors for Bruce's stamina. To his mild surprise, Master Dick looked to Alfred for approval before he spoke. "You may as well finish your sentence, Master Dick. I am woefully unable to sedate him without sedatives, and I doubt he'll permit you to fetch them until you speak."

Dick smirked briefly. Alfred Pennyworth: butler, cook, mother hen. "Carrie..." Dick began, well aware of the strange tone of voice that Bruce had used. "Carrie took it the hardest when you left. Jason just assumed you'd come home sooner or later, Cass thinks that everyone leaves eventually, and Robin just does what I did when I was his age and throws himself into work to keep from thinking about how he feels. But Carrie's never really had to deal with you being... you. She still saw you, with all your flaws, as this idealized hero figure, someone she trusted no matter what. And then you broke it. She probably won't forgive you immediately. Or for a long time."

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-25 06:41 am UTC (link)
Bruce couldn't help but apply the words to both Carries. He'd left his wife, too. It had been by vortex, not by choice, but that didn't stop the guilt. He broke her trust. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it was all being shoved to the surface like it was yesterday.

He was grateful that Alfred had forced him to lie down. He would rather not find out if he was so old that news like this made him dizzy. "Thank you," he said quietly, looking up at the ceiling. It was a very unobtrusive ceiling, and not one likely to provoke an emotional reaction.

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[info]raisingwayne
2008-09-26 04:19 am UTC (link)
Dick showed himself out while Alfred busied himself. It constantly amazed Dick that Alfred constantly had something to do. He suspected that Alfred intentionally left small, unnoticeable, but vital jobs around the house undone so that he would always have a reason to be where he felt the need to go.

As it was, Alfred was setting a small clock, then disabling the alarm. With remarkable foresight and a screwdriver, he also disabled the button that would have enabled the alarm. When that was done, he returned his attention to Master Bruce, who clearly needed more help than protection from his own lack of knowledge of his limitations. "When one has built a family, as you have, Master Bruce, one learns that it is very possible to damage the bonds you have created. However, it is much more difficult to destroy these bonds. Loathe as you may be to admit failure, I must admit that I believe Miss Carrie and Miss Cassandra will come around."

On the way back from the Cave with a small assortment of medication, Dick stopped and sat on the staircase. It was the only area in the foyer that his voice wouldn't carry. Then he took a deep breath and dialed Carrie's number. After a few rings, a sleepy voice answered. "Hey."

From her tone, Dick figured that she probably knew why he was calling, but he felt compelled to say it anyway. "Bruce is awake."

"Is he all right?" she asked. It was clear that she was going out of her way not to sound concerned.

Dick hesitated slightly. "Yes. He's... older. Maybe more than sixty."

"Is he m--" Carrie caught herself, but Dick could guess what she had been saying. "Is he the same Bruce that left?"

"I think so." Dick decided not to address her very near slip of the tongue. "I'm going to try to find out more."

"Fine. Call me when you're coming home." She hung up without saying goodbye, but more as if she had done it absently than angrily.

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-26 06:37 am UTC (link)
Bruce had learned a lot since he'd been gone. He had always pushed to learn new skills, but he had long neglected the social, familial sector. Now he looked back and couldn't help realizing what an idiot he'd been. It amazed him, sometimes. "I hope you're right, Alfred."

Listening carefully for ninja-quiet footsteps in the outside hallway so they wouldn't be surprised by the return of Dick, Bruce confided in Alfred something he wasn't sure he would be able to say again for a long time. "Carrie," he said quietly, his voice nearly a whisper. "She was my wife."

He'd seen her angry with him on more than one occasion, and he'd been yelled at several times, before and after they took their vows. But if she never spoke to him again, it would break him.

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[info]gothamboy
2008-09-26 09:49 pm UTC (link)
Alfred turned the sentence over in his head a few times as he tried to decide how to respond. He had been under the impression that he'd seen it all, but this world kept finding ways to prove, in no uncertain terms, that he hadn't seen anything yet. As delicately as he could, Alfred said, "Perhaps you have been asleep for too long. Miss Carrie is Master Dick's wife."

Dick was giving Jason's phone another try. Jason had a surprisingly deep voice whether male or female, but it was the male one that finally answered. "Hello."

"Jason? You took a break?"

Jason probably heard the smirk in Dick's voice, but he didn't comment on it. "Guy needs to eat. So does a lady. So for me, it's doubly so. Shouldn't you be babysitting daddy?"

That was probably what he said, anyway. He was speaking through a mouthful of food. "He's awake. And he's older."

"How much?"

"Sixty something. Hard to tell exactly."

"Hm." Jason seemed to mull this information over. "Cool. Tell him I said hi."

"You're not...?" Dick didn't know what he expected Jason to be, but he clearly wasn't.

"Told you he'd be back, didn't I? Just took him a bit longer than I would have thought. Twenty or thirty years, but I still win the pool. Or I would, if you people would have played along. Besides, I am not in much of a place to be anything but sweaty and very, very content with the world."

"Okay, we're done. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye. Kiss Bruce for me and Cass!" He heard a nondescript objection in the background. "No, I don't care if you would kiss him, I wouldn't either."

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-27 12:18 am UTC (link)
Bruce nodded. He remembered Carrie being with Dick here. It was a distant memory, and it had worked that way. In the other world, he and Dick had had a rather healthy relationship. He was unsure if he would be able to get that back.

"Of course," Bruce said, his voice soft and worn. The news didn't surprise or phase him. He had no intention of trying to woo this Carrie. "Perhaps I have." He had to tell Alfred. It would take time to think about how to--or if he should--explain to the others. But in the meantime, he had Alfred to confide in. If it was easier for the man to pretend nothing had happened, Bruce would play along, at least for now. He was too tired to argue.

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[info]raisingwayne
2008-09-27 05:48 am UTC (link)
Dick returned to the bedroom, tray in hand, after another minute or two. "I got hold of Jason," he said, doing his best to make it sound like that was the only person he'd called. "He said, among other things, hi." Dick had noticed the atmosphere, but chose not to comment on it. Making them uncomfortable was only likely to lead to questions about what he'd been doing.

"Thank you, Master Dick," said Alfred as he took the tray. It shook slightly in his hands, causing Master Dick to raise an eyebrow. Alfred smiled for a moment. "No need to worry, Master Dick, it has simply been a long day for us all." Alfred counted out a couple of pills from a bottle labeled with a name that would give a linguist with a pharmacist fetish pause and handed them to Master Bruce with another cup of now rather lukewarm tea. "You must be sore from the effort of aging a number of decades in the same number of months. And you." He turned on Master Dick. "When is the last time that you slept?"

"Um?" Dick was too taken by surprise to provide the instant denial that came naturally to all Bats, but he was quick to rebound. "I'm more than steady." He held out an unshaking hand, hoping that Alfred didn't know that there were meditation techniques that could mimic six hours of sleep in half an hour at the minor cost of sanity if kept up for more than a couple of days.

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-27 12:20 pm UTC (link)
He nodded to Dick as he delivered the news about Jason. That was good. At least, he hoped it was.

Bruce took the pills and tea. Normally he preferred to avoid painkillers if he could, but he was too exhausted to protest. Besides, the pain was nagging at him, and he could probably use it. He needed to rest. "Feels like more than a few months," was the extent of explanation he could muster. He swallowed the pills.

He couldn't tell Dick to sleep, though he was sure the younger man needed it. He wasn't the boss, at least not right now, and he stayed silent on the matter.

He looked over at Alfred. He knew Alfred wasn't ready to let him out of bed just yet, and the meds would knock him out soon. He didn't want any of the kids here while he slept. He wasn't sure of the things he might say in his sleep, or the emotions that may be revealed when he woke up in an empty bed. "Please. Wake me if I have visitors."

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[info]gothamboy
2008-09-30 02:41 am UTC (link)
"Of course, Master Bruce. In the meantime, I will drive Master Dick home to avoid running the risk of his falling asleep at the wheel, making a mess, turning Miss Carrie into a widow, et cetera, et cetera." Alfred was smiling, but his voice was firm.

"Alfred, I don't need to--"

"Feel free to nap in the car if you find yourself unable to stay awake," he added, just as firmly. Dick took the hint and left the room to go wait by Alfred's favorite Alfredmobile.

Before he left, Alfred crossed the room and placed his hand on Master Bruce's. "It is very good to have you back, Master Bruce." Alfred's voice was as steady as ever, but a careful observer might have noticed his eyes twinkling a bit more than they usually did.

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[info]greyingknight
2008-09-30 06:42 am UTC (link)
"Thank you," Bruce said to Alfred, once they were alone. His emotions were conflicted, and he wasn't sure which was going to win out. He turned his hand, squeezing Alfred's. "Thank you." For being the father Bruce should have been. For being his friend.

There were more discussions that would need to be had. More explanations. More cups of tea. But for now, they all had plenty to sleep on.

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