We understood each other then. Rather well, actually. Bruce felt his breath catch before he took the photo down and sat down. Running am old hand over the photo he mused at how simplicity is a blessing and ignorance can truly be bliss.
They all leave eventually. It is all so simple in the beginning. One after another, gone.
Damian had grown up and gone to school, taking over the family business, Wayne Industries. He was CEO and a business mind like no other. He was currently in Japan working on a deal that would rival any of his father's business workings and he would have made Lucius Fox proud.
Stephanie had given up on being a vigilante soon after her return to the family. She had decided that being a civil service worker was the least she could do if spandex was no longer an option as she got older. She was ADA of Gotham and doing well. She wrote every now and then to thank "Mr. Wayne for his influence and resources in the eventual dismantling of organized crime in Gotham."
Cassandra was no longer in the United States. For years she had gone between her life in Gotham and her spiritual search in her homeland, but even Cassandra decided against life in the night. She owned and operated her own Karate club and took annual trips into the wilderness to hone her own skills in self-defense and martial arts. She had phoned a month or so ago to 'check-in'.
Barbara was Commissioner Gordon now, despite her handicap. Her skills with technology made her the first commissioner to scare online child predators as well as street thugs. She was the brains to the brawn that was now the GPD. She had been over for dinner three nights ago.
Bruce stopped himself short of continuing on with memories and the past becoming the present. He set the photo in his hand off to the side, unable to look at it a moment longer. They all leave. Always. They come in and out like nothing ever matters, as if it isn't painful.
A knock came to the door and Bruce assumed it was the nurse or maid that everyone insisted on him having.
"Bruce?" A male voice. Damian? He wasn't due back until the end of the month.
The souls of dress shoes clapped on the floor as the person came into the room, ever closer. "Bruce, its me." The man was finally beside him, kneeling down by the chair to look up into a face that he knew very well.
"Tim." Bruce responded and Tim nodded.
"I thought I'd find you here." Tim took the photo beside him and moved to place it back on the mantle along with the others. The photo was of Dick, Bruce and Alfred behind him. Bruce had his hands on Dick's shoulders. It was strange but they were all smiling. Dick had been so young in this picture, maybe eleven?
"Tim." Bruce asked, his voice low and stern. Bat-like.
Tim turned to face his mentor and guardian of years so long ago and walked to him. "Yes?"
"…" He had opened his mouth but closed it. Some things never changed.
Years had gone by with cruel speed and had taken many things from them all. Bruce had suffered the most. As if losing his parents in his childhood years hadn't been enough he had been forced to watch as every person he ever brought to his home left. Tim found it almost humorous that a man said to be 'cold' could be so internally sentimental. The man had a cat named Alfred. Or was that Damian's cat he had seen plodding down the steps moments ago?
Despite Bruce's dual identity and hectic life he was still just a man in many ways. Every father dreads and praises the day his children grow up and leave the nest. Bruce watched many Robins leave. Some fell from the nest and some flew with grace. Tim lived near by and still came by as often as he could. Some weeks he came every day and other times he didn't come around at all but that is life. Things change.
"He's in town this week." Tim offered the answer to the question that Bruce hadn't asked. Once again, some things never change. Batman and Robin: Dynamic Duo.
Bruce looked up into Tim's face, one brow reaching into his hairline in question.
"He called and said he'd be by. He has a lot to get done while he's in town but he's in no hurry to get back to the city so he's hoping to-" Tim stopped as Ace, Bruce's doberman, came up and rubbed up against him.
Bruce pushed himself up from his chair and started towards the doorway to go up the stairs. Tim watched him slowly start up the steps, a determined tightness in his expression that showed pain but an unwillingness to be dependent on anyone or anything.
The phone rang and Tim went to grab it as he watched the dog go after his master.
"Wayne Residence. Oh, yeah, hey! Its great to hear from you. No, he went up already. I know, it is late but he's been…uh huh. You're coming for dinner? Alone? Ah, okay. Got it. Hey, I'll talk to you soon. Bye." With that Tim hung up the phone and headed upstairs to talk with the nurse and then left. He called his wife on his way home. She was having a hard time getting the kids to bed.
Meanwhile, the television in Bruce's room came on with breaking news.
"Detective Richard Grayson of the NYPD has spoken with Gotham police and has made a deal of cooperation in regards to police jurisdiction in an ongoing murder investigation. Commissioner Barbara Gordon is assisting in the case personally due to the possible involvement of organized crime. A man was murdered six nights ago in downtown Gotham. The murder closely resembles that of several murders in New York and considered top priority. The man, Ronald Moore, is survived by his young son of eight years of age. Police Officials are open to any information from the public to help the investigation."