The Caped Crusader

I don't own Batman. It belongs to DC comics.

Prologue: Collateral Damage

"The final reports are in, Master Bruce."

Bruce Wayne sighed as he sat down in a chair of the newly rebuilt Wayne Manor. He had hung up his cape and cowl that day. The Joker was behind bars, Two-Face was dead, Harvey Dent was a martyr and Batman was considered a murderer. Bruce winced at the thought. It rankled, deep down, that he was considered a murderer, even though he himself had chosen to make that sacrifice. It hurt to have his creation equated with the monsters who had taken his parents.

"Master Bruce?"

Bruce blinked in shock and glanced up at Alfred, his trusted right hand. "I'm sorry, Alfred. I was a million miles away. What was that?"

The elderly man smiled sympathetically. It had been a trying few days to say the least. "I have the final reports, Sir… on the casualties of Mr. Dent's unfortunate spree. I believe you wanted to know them."

Bruce managed a small smile for his oldest friend and took the reports, curious about who had died in Two-Face's short murder spree. Salvatore Maroni was no great loss. Bruce wouldn't have ever killed Maroni, of course, but he wasn't about to feel much sadness over the passing of a violent mob boss. Michael Wuertz was a corrupt cop. Bruce would have preferred to see the man brought to justice, rather than being gunned down. Wuertz had left behind a wife and kids. Perhaps Bruce Wayne could drum up a charity ball with the proceeds going to the families of policemen killed in the line of duty. Bruce nodded in satisfaction.

It was in that moment that he came across two of Two-Face's victims that made no sense. "Who exactly are John and Mary Grayson and why did Dent kill them?"

Alfred winced faintly. "I'm afraid that Dent killed the two by circumstance, Master Bruce. Their car was struck by Maroni's when Dent killed Maroni's driver. Only their young son and Dent survived the collision."

Bruce's face could have been carved from stone. "Collateral damage." Oh how Bruce hated that term. It was a term used for the unintended consequences of violent actions. It was used by the military, the police and for many organizations. It was an unpleasant reality that occurred more often then people would prefer. Bruce instinctively hated the term. His own broken childhood was collateral damage left behind by Chill's murder of his parents.

"Quite right, Sir." Alfred appeared to be trying to keep a stiff upper lip for Bruce's sake, but it was obvious that the gentleman's gentleman was equally offended by the term and equally distressed to see that Dent's madness had claimed the lives of uninvolved innocents.

Bruce pursed his lips in thought for a long moment. The child the Graysons had left behind had just lost his parents. Bruce found himself wanting to make certain that the boy would be all right. "Alfred, prepare a full background on the surviving Grayson boy. I want everything we've got on him."

Alfred slipped from the room with barely a whisper. The man exemplified efficiency in a way that still impressed Bruce. He had to wonder where his father had ever found such a skilled and adaptable man as Alfred Pennyworth. Bruce quickly dismissed Alfred from his thoughts, getting back to going over the casualties of Dent's rampage. He would think about Alfred and the Grayson boy later.

I know it's short, but I'll give you more next time. ;)

This is obviously my retake on a follow-up to The Dark Knight. In The Dark Knight Rises, we discover that Dent is still a hero, Batman is AWOL, Bruce is a recluse and many other things. In The Caped Crusader, I intend to present Bruce with a different path.

Jasper