Bruce listened to the ticking clock in his study, an all too familiar sound that he was growing to despise more and more. Still, he couldn't bring himself to break the thing. It had been his grandfather's, and though he hadn't known his grandfather, he could remember the clock breaking when he was a child. His father had been on edge until it could be repaired.

He was waiting for Terry to come back. A few years ago the clock hadn't been an issue during his wait, because he had stayed in the cave while Terry went out. Always at the computer, waiting to hear from the kid and to help in any way he could. Terry didn't need the help anymore, and probably hadn't for a good while before Bruce had stopped.

Bruce would be down there now, watching and listening, waiting for the much more chance to offer help, if he hadn't been all but banned from his own damn cave. It was better than sitting here listening to the clock. He knew rationally that Terry's complete insistence that he stay out of the cave was well founded. It was still irritating.

There were two very compelling reasons for Bruce to stay upstairs. One was the cold in the cave. As he'd continued to lose weight in his advancing age it was harder to keep warm down there. He'd gotten pneumonia a few times. Still, that hadn't been enough to keep him away. He was willing to use gloves and blankets. He'd bought several space heaters to put around the computer. It had helped.

Then, he'd had his fall.

His damned knee had just buckled one day when he was going down the stairs into the cave. He hadn't even been going down to do anything for Terry. There had just been a day that he'd decided to go down and take another real look around. He had wanted to reminisce, look at his collection, go through old files. Maybe even sit in the old Batmobile. He missed driving it, even now.

When he fell he didn't even make it to the bottom of the steps. He could remember Terry finding him, hours later. He'd drifted in and out of consciousness for hours, unable to move when he woke. He had gotten a concussion, dislocated his right arm, and broken his left leg in three places. He knew he'd been lucky to survive a fall like that at his age. He was still annoyed with himself for letting it happen. That was the last time he'd tried to go to the cave alone. Now if he really wanted to go down he would tell Terry, and the kid would walk down with him, ready to catch Bruce should he nearly fall again.

He really hated it. So he nearly never mentioned it. He hadn't been in the cave now for nearly six months. Maybe it would be good to go down again soon, before he really couldn't go again.

4:37 am.

Terry would be back soon, so long as nothing major happened. He would usually call if he got himself called in on something big so Bruce wouldn't wait up for him. Bruce always waited anyway. It was too hard not to.

Is this what it felt like for Alfred, all those years ago? He hoped not. He certainly wouldn't wish this feeling on his friend.

He wasn't surprised that more than fourty years after his death, he still so often found himself thinking about Alfred. The man had never left him. Never even stopped working. And Alfred had called Bruce stubborn. He wished his friend had lived long enough to see him retire. As dark a time as it was for Bruce when he'd sealed up the cave, he knew Alfred would have found relief in knowing he was done putting on the cape and cowl.

A chirping noise grabbed his attention, he picked up the small alarm and turned it off. The device let him know when the cave doors opened. Terry was entering the cave.

Not five minutes later, the clock opened.

"Hey Old Man." Terry walked in, already changed into his civilian clothes.

"Anything interesting happen tonight?"

"It was all pretty routine. Here, this is for you." He held out an envelope.

He raised a brow, but took the envelope that no one had bothered to seal. He opened the flap and pulled out... an invitation, to the wedding of Terry McGuinness and Dana Tan. "It's in two months. Didn't give yourselves a lot of time to plan things."

"Yeah, Dana said she's waited long enough as it is." Terry smiled softly, and sat in the armchair on the opposite side of the desk, slouched, with a leg dangling over an arm. "I suspect she's done most of the planning already."

"I don't think you're wrong."

"Well we want you to come. I know you don't exactly like to go out but-"

"I'll be there."

Terry smiled again, and sat up a little straighter. "One more thing. You're not going to like it."

"Go ahead."

"I promised Dana a real honeymoon. A whole week, no suit. Unless there's some kind of Omega level disaster."

"Even I can understand that. Still, the city could suffer if the rabble realizes you're not here. There will be a lot of recon to do when you get back."

"If I can find an old friend it won't be an issue. Remember Zeta? Well I figure maybe he could cover with the small time stuff. If not I can ask a leaguer to keep an eye out. Lantern maybe... he's the responsible type."

"That was one nice thing about having a close team at home. I could count on them to take care of things when I needed them to. Even when I considered early retirement just before my wedding, they would have taken on the city on their own."

"Wedding?" Now the kid really sat straight, both his feet on the floor.

"Hn. Yes, one of them. It's nearly five. Aren't you supposed to be getting home?"

"Oh come on Bruce. Spill."

"About which one?"

"Both. I don't need every detail, but... You don't talk about anything non-bat related often. I just wanna know."

He sighed. It was always progressively harder to turn down this kind of request from the kid. His kid. His son. Terry had always been somewhat curious about his past, but the urge to know more had grown significantly after his talks with Amanda Waller. Once things had calmed between them they had both struggled with showing some kind of affection for each other.

"My first engagement was to Andrea Beaumont. We were together just before I became Batman. I would have given up on the idea to be with her. She didn't know about it. She left, and it was ten years before I found out why." He paused as he remembered. He had been so different when he had loved Andrea. "Her father was in trouble, being hunted by the Joker. She didn't tell me, she just decided to run away with him, to keep him safe."

Terry was quiet, he just nodded slightly to show he understood. Terry knew that talking during A Story was the best way for it to get cut short.

"The next time, I did get married. She told me her name was Susan McGuire. It was moronic. I wasn't really in love... She just made having a relationship so easy. That was because she was not a person. Poison Ivy created plants who looked like people, for a time, so they could marry all of Gotham's richest socialites. That way when she murdered all of us our "spouses" would have control of our finances and turn them over to her."

Terry whistles, long and slow. He didn't expect more details than he'd gotten already. "That really blows."

"Uh-huh." He gave the kid a look, then pushed on his cane as he stood. "Now go home."

Terry and Dana had formed a ritual, each morning when he was done with his patrol they had breakfast together before she went to work and Terry went to sleep. They both knew he was kicking the kid out so he would get there on time.

"Sure you don't need anything before I go?"

"No."

"Okay." Terry stood, and moved for the door. "Hey, I'm glad you're coming. To the wedding. It means a lot." The kid smiled, and left. He was usually decent enough to run out when he said something too sentimental, so Bruce wouldn't have to try to respond to comments.

Bruce started his slow walk to the elevator that would take him to the second floor.

He was happy for Terry, he really was. Still, he worried what marriage would mean for the younger Batman, and subsequently, what that would mean for Gotham. Could Terry balance his life well enough to be a good husband without letting his duties falter? What would happen to the city if Terry became a father?

There would be no answers for him this morning. Bruce knew that he may never find out how well Terry balanced everything. Only time could tell, and he couldn't be sure how much time he had left any more.