Bruce Wayne stood over the grave of his parents; there was never really anything to say at this point. He'd just stand there and think, think about what he had accomplished, what he hadn't accomplished, the state of the city, the country, the world. He thought about the people he cared about: Selena, Alfred and Gordon. However there were two things he never thought about: The night they were killed and the obvious elephant in the room: Batman.
His relationship with Batman was taking its toll finally; Bruce Wayne was becoming less real than Batman. In the beginning he said: "only at night can Batman exist" but things had changed so much. Crime was outrageous; the stars in the night sky were not the only stars the criminals waited for. They used the sun now, they hid in the brightness and Batman was forced to appear as well. In the last three months Batman had ended seventeen serial criminals' reigns and Bruce Wayne had missed thirty five, important, executive meetings at Wayne enterprises. If it weren't for the grace of Alfred he might have been out of the job. Bruce knew something had to be done about Batman, instead of being a crutch for Gotham he was becoming the crippling factor. The people were beginning to rely on Batman to solve all their problems. The same was happening in Metropolis, Superman was saving everyone and everything. The difference was: Superman didn't get tired, Superman didn't have to go to important meetings and keep a large cooperation afloat, Superman's alter ego didn't live in the limelight as well, they could live together in one place but Batman and Bruce Wayne could not.
The sun glared into his eyes for a moment, before the clouds went in front of it again, it had been a good week since Bruce had gone out into daylight. To be more exact it had been a good week since Bruce Wayne had gone out at all. His last adventure had landed him in bed for recovery. Chasing the strange crook with a fetish for a doll, who'd only identify himself as 'Scarface', was more exhausting than he had anticipated, it also left him very battered and bruised. Falling off of a fifty story building to the thirty ninth floor would do that to you though.
The worse thing was that he couldn't wear any kind of recovery material outside, his excuse of being hurt in automobile accidents and skiing trips were becoming too common; plus it broke his heart to have to crash the Rolls Royce for evidence of his lie. Right now his left arm and ribs were pounding and he was becoming dizzy. It was time to go; if he stayed any longer he'd probably faint. Stiffly he turned a hundred and eighty degrees and squinted in the light to see the car. It wasn't that far, so he walked. The trees every so often would cast a shadow on him that would remind him of the shadows the buildings made on him at night when he was stalking someone. Bruce shivered at the thought; this was the type of thing that bothered him. Normal people would walk under the shadow of a tree and not think twice about it, but when he did it became a reminded of Batman. It seemed that, slowly, Batman was consuming Bruce Wayne.
Bruce reached forward and opened the car door and quickly got in.
"Master Bruce…" Alfred Started. "…I'm terribly sorry I didn't even notice you walking back." Alfred went on.
"Its fine Alfred, I can open a door by myself." Bruce Answered light heartedly to Alfred.
"This week you can…" Selena added. "…last week you couldn't even say door because you were so messed up." Selena added a bit of anger and caring to her voice, which Bruce detected. He didn't enjoy lying to her, he just had to.
"Well I'm an easy patient…" Bruce added. "…plus I was in shock last week, hitting that tree really took the wind out of me." He lied to her some more.
"Well, I'm not a doctor, but I'd suggest no more skiing for a while." Selena Kyle said defiantly.
"Well I don't know…" Bruce started to explain. "…a lot of my clients like to ski, and for the interest of the company I may have to." Bruce explained, after a couple of moments of no answer he looked at her to see she had looked away. He sighed, he'd angered her and once he'd done that he knew there was little he could do about it until later. "…well I guess I can lay off of skiing for a while."
"Let's just hope that no one forcing you to ski anytime soon." Alfred answered from the front of the car. The words hit Bruce and brought him back to reality, he looked outside his window to his parent's grave.
"…Let's hope." He said.
After, a quick and quiet lunch with Selena, Bruce knew he needed to mend some things in his other life. As much as Batman got in the way of his life he still needed to keep Batman in good condition, above all protecting the people is what he felt strongly for. Gotham had fallen into a slump years ago and, only recently, was it beginning to come out of it and slowly at that. The smaller crimes had drastically gone down, and it was clear why. The fear of Batman had seeped into the inner city and all around. Petty thieves were afraid of encountering him, coming up against Batman was not worth a few bucks. However the bigger crimes had slowly risen. Murder, rapes, serial killings, kidnappings, large robberies had all become more common and what was most upsetting about it were the people doing it. Critics of society had said it was Batman's fault, that these imaginative villains had gain the courage to be so flamboyant from Batman. Gordon said not to listen to those "clowns" but Bruce knew in a way they were right. "Killer Croc", "The Creep", "Scarecrow" and "Scarface" All of them were extravagant, deadly, criminals and had been a rather sharp thorn in Batman's side. It seemed when one was stopped another more deranged one appeared, each one more bloodthirsty than the next. The dynamic was sad, Bruce felt if Batman wasn't around then these embellished crooks wouldn't exist, but since the chain had started he couldn't take Batman away because Batman was the only one, now, who could stop them.
The Gotham police had their hands tied in politics, Batman didn't subscribe to politics and there were a lot of people who felt that because he didn't he couldn't be trusted. "What if he becomes a renegade?" some asked, what if Batman turned on the people? Batman had no morals, no sense of compassion so what would stop him from becoming the people he fought. Bruce often thought about this; there were parts of this that were true. It was relieving not to have to succumb to politics when dealing with scum Bruce felt a wave of pressure relieved from him when he was doing that. So what was keeping him from becoming like the people he fought against? Bruce Wayne had morals, so in a way Bruce Wayne and Batman weren't always separated, slowly, but surely, their lives were crossing and Bruce knew that this would mean the end for one of them.
Selena complicated things; though they'd been dating for sometime now, Bruce knew they couldn't be farther apart. His life was a mystery to her, and she knew he was hiding something from her. She never asked though, that's what kept them living separate. He with his huge mansion, Alfred and Batman who roamed in his mind all the time waiting to be free but laid trapped in the back of his mind and in his elaborate basement and her with her small studio apartment and cats.
One day he asked her why she had so many cats, what was so appealing about them over something like a dog or a bird, and instead of answering she asked him what was so appealing about bats. He worried she might be suspecting, but he knew she didn't know.
The cold air that rushed at him when he reached the thirty sixth step was no longer any surprise. From there the "Bat cave" could be seen in all its glory. It had taken more than a year to finish constructing and was the living place of Batman. To Bruce this was the only place that Batman was more real than Bruce Wayne. There were still similar things between the two one of them being Alfred who was more often in the 'Bat Cave" than not. Right now he was leaning over one of the suits and taking a good look at it. Wayne could tell from looking at the expression on his face that it was the last suit he wore.
"Is it repairable?" Bruce asked coming to the last step; Alfred looked up unsurprised and gave a weak frown.
"It'll take a while to repair it…" Alfred started; he looked back down at it. "…if anything happens in the next few weeks you'll need to wear a new one" He concluded.
"How many do I have left?" Bruce asked. Alfred looked over to his right where the extra suits were kept.
"Two sir" Alfred answered, Bruce frowned.
"I used eight already?" Bruce asked.
"Yes…" Alfred answered. "…Killer croc ripped of the chest of the first one, then the back off the second and damaged the head a bit, then creep set fire to the third, ripped the arm off the fourth, electrocuted the fifth, Scarecrow put a huge gash on the sixth one and ruined the entire left side, and Scarface shot up the seventh and the glass from the fall ruined this one." Alfred explained; Bruce frowned going over each event in his head slowly making sure they were true. Not that Alfred would lie, but could he remember them all? To his surprise he did and not only that but he remembered them in vivid detail. These people were vicious, Killer croc was just a psychopath who maimed his enemies in a fashion much like his namesake. Croc assumed to put his power to a more lucrative purpose. Robbing banks in and around Gotham became his passion and it had gone too far before Batman got involved. Only assuming to meet a common thief with an ambitious attitude; Batman jumped into the challenge. Batman's ambitiousness left Bruce Wayne with a concussion, two broken ribs, a torn muscle and a fractured jaw. The stories changed villains but the results turned out to be the same. Batman would take down the villain and Bruce Wayne would suffer the consequences.
Bruce grabbed the suit and pulled at it a little to see if it was durable.
"At this rate I'm going to have to be more careful." Bruce said; Alfred nodded distantly.
"Perhaps Batman should be less adventurous and stealthier." Alfred suggested; Bruce looked at his old butler but not with the eyes of a master to a servant but more of a child to their parent. Alfred had been dropping hints recently about his disappointment in Batman, Bruce usually let it slide because he had the same thoughts but now he wanted to know what exactly he was prodding at.
"…How so Alfred?" Bruce asked; Alfred stood tall in his dignified speech stance, which Bruce was so accustomed to.
"Well, if you ask me, Master Bruce, Batman is not supposed to be the solider everyone's demanding him to be…" Alfred moved closer to Bruce. "…Batman started as a symbol to protect this city from villainy, something that was both physical and mental. Something that even if destroyed the name would go beyond what this suit…" He roughly held up the suit almost with disgust. "…could ever do but now Batman has become a man in a suit and as far as he goes these new animals appear." Alfred explained; Bruce nodded.
"I know Alfred but what am I supposed to do…?" Bruce asked. "…Am I supposed to take Batman away; the people have become too accustomed to Batman they can't survive on their own; they need a-" Bruce started
"A savior, a god?" Alfred suggested; Bruce frowned.
"I was going to say a protector" Bruce explained; Alfred nodded and stepped closer to Bruce.
"That's just as bad, if you don't mind my saying, Master Bruce…" Alfred said. "…What the people don't need is a protector but rather a means to protect themselves. When Batman came along he was a symbol for the people to know that they didn't have to stand the corruptness of this city, but now he's become a Halloween parlor act a reason for people not to stand up for themselves, he's become a celebrity." Alfred finished; Bruce sighed, everything he said resounded deep inside of him. He agreed with Alfred in everyway, the only thing was that Batman was more powerful than Bruce Wayne in many ways.
"Well Alfred for now Batman is going to have to take it a little easier so that Bruce Wayne can get his life together." Bruce answered truthfully; Alfred put his hand on Bruce's shoulder.
"That sounds good to me." He simply answered.
No sooner than Alfred finished speaking did the television catch both of their eyes. On it was a high speed car chase going through southern Gotham; Bruce went over and turned the volume up. The report explained that the chase had been going on for a little over a half hour from all the way in northern Gotham to southern Gotham.
"They're trying to leave the city…" Bruce said. "…they're leaving via Gotham Tunnel" Bruce explained.
"They're not trying to lose the police…" Alfred said. "…They're trying to get away from Batman" Alfred explained.
"I know…" Bruce sighed. "…I'll get dressed"