A Christmas Gift from Tibet
Batman came into the cave form a long night out in the cold winter of Gothom. It had been a fairly quiet night. He had stopped a couple of jewel robbers, and one of the punks had managed to use a crowbar on his left side. The flexible Kevlar had done its job. He didn't have any broken or cracked ribs, but from the twinge he felt on deep breaths he knew that there was bruising.
He removed his cowl, and Batman left. He was Bruce Wayne again in a costume. He slowly removed his cape, as Alfred joined him at the wardrobe. "Good evening Alfred."
"Good evening, Master Bruce. Any damage sir?"
Bruce chuckled. He was looking forward to shocking Alfred. "Minor, just bruises from a crowbar, hang on and you can take a look."
"I have someone better qualified than I, sir" Bruce looked at him strangely, and Alfred merely nodded toward the medical recess of the cave. Alfred helped him put away the suit as he put on pajama bottoms and his robe. He moved into the medical recess at Alfred's insistent motions.
The sight that greeted him let the great Bruce Wayne speechless. "Good evening, Bruce. I have missed you, my boy." The warm motherly voice of Leslie Thompkins greeted him. Bruce stood there his jaw open. Leslie had become a surrogate mother after his had been cruelly snatched from him. She had gone through medical school with Bruce's father Thomas Wayne, and was an accomplished physician herself.
Leslie had been in Europe since Bruce had disappeared. Bruce wanted to be angry with Alfred. He had divulged the secret of the Batman to Leslie, but in most ways this woman was his mother, just as Alfred was his father. He couldn't be angry. Composing himself with a genuine smile he moved forward.
"Good evening, Leslie. I have missed you as well." He embraced her. It did not escape him that she was older. She moved a bit more stiffly. It wasn't until they were embracing that he realized just how much he had missed her. He inhaled her familiar scent and relaxed. She was real and she was here.
"Alfred caught me up on things since I left. You have been busy young man. Were you injured tonight?" While warm and understanding, Bruce had to laugh.
"Minor bruises on my left side. Nothing compared to some nights." He chuckled.
She sobered up. "So I have been informed. Shall I have a look?"
Bruce nodded and moved to the gurney he had replaced the steel table with. His company had made a generous donation of medical supplies to the new Gothom Hospital after it was rebuilt from the Joker. He had taken the opportunity to supply himself with a fully equipped medical facility in the cave. No one had notice the altered records that he, Alfred and Lucius had conjured up to account for the missing items. "If you would like Leslie," she nodded and he shed his robe and hopped up on the gurney to give her better access.
He looked down at his side, and sure enough there was a mass of flowering bruises. Leslie warmed her hands at the sink as she washed. Moving back to Bruce's side she gently touched and prodded the bruised areas. Removing her stethoscope she had him breathe deeply and then listened to his heart. He was quiet and let the exam happen, as he drifted back to the last Christmas he had had with Leslie and his parents.
It had been the last Christmas he was to share with his family, but before he could loose himself completely Leslie spoke. "No broken bones, breath sounds and heart beat in good shape. Just some bruises. Stay there." He nodded. Leslie came back in a moment with a jar of liniment, and gently rubbed it into the bruises. "There that should help a bit. Now I know a couple of young women and a boy that have been waiting up for you."
"Leslie, they didn't."
She put her hand on his shoulder. "Of course they did Bruce. It is Christmas Eve after all." He kissed her, and bounded out to the elevator that would take him up to the main floor of the mansion. He stepped through the grandfather clock, and his breath caught in his throat.
The mansion looked almost as it had before Ra's al Gul burnt it to the ground, with one important change. It was decked out for Christmas. He quickly made his way into the library were he knew they would be. He went in and was greeted by another surprise. Lucius was there. He was talking quietly with a young woman. On his lap was a young boy of maybe ten or eleven and on the woman's lap was a little girl of no more than five. Alfred and Leslie joined him in the door, and he smiled at the warm scene.
"Lucius," he smiled and inclined his head.
"Bruce." He smiled back.
Bruce moved into the room, and took a seat next to the woman and child. He leaned toward her and they kissed. "Busy night, husband?" She whispered mischievously. It was not yet midnight, Bruce had only been gone about two and a half, three hours.
"Hardly," he smiled. "Couple of thieves. They bruised my left side, but nothing else, and Leslie took care of it before I came in." He caressed her cheek, and looked down at the little girl curled up in her lap. "Shall we take them up to bed?" He said indicating the boy and girl.
"They wanted to wait up for you. I think they were afraid you wouldn't keep your promise." She smiled. Bruce relieved Lucius of the boy in his lap, and sat back with his wife. Lucius, Alfred and Leslie were content to watch the scene play out.
The move caused to boy to stir. "Dad,"
Bruce smiled at the sleep laden face of his adopted son. "Yes, Dick, I'm home. Are you ready for bed?" Dick nodded sleepily against his chest.
"Bruce, you get him, and I'll take Martha." His wife whispered collecting the little girl Martha better into her arms.
"I'll tuck Dick in and then we can switch kids so that Martha knows I made it home too."
"How did I marry such a smart man?" She teased.
"I think I got the better end of the deal Rebecca." He smiled back. They got up and exited the library. Bruce threw behind him. "Make yourselves at home, you to Alfred, we'll be down in a few minutes." The three watched the couple take their kids up to bed, before moving into the library for eggnog.
Dick went into the land of dreams easily. Bruce tucked him in, and kissed his forehead. "I love you, Dick. Sweet dreams, son."
Dick snuggled deeper into his bed, and smiled as Bruce stealthily moved to the room across the hall. Rebecca was reassuring a very tired Martha that Daddy was home safe and sound from a late night meeting. He walked in, and rescued his wife and distraught child. Rebecca quietly slipped out to go check on Dick.
Martha threw herself at him, and it was only his quick reflexes that caught her safely. "Daddy, are you okay?"
He looked at her strangely. She knew nothing of her father's late night activities. He smiled and nodded. "Of course I'm fine, honey. I just had to go take care of a few things before tomorrow."
She broke out in an ear to ear grin and bounced in his arms. "Does that mean you are going to keep your promise? No work at all tomorrow?"
"I told you, Dick, and mommy that I would not work on Christmas Day. That it belonged to you all didn't I? I won't work at all tomorrow."
She squealed and hugged his neck so hard she nearly cut off his wind pipe. He laughed despite this. Both children had been spoiled this year in gifts, from Santa, and mommy and daddy, but more than a tangible gift they both had more than anything else wanted Bruce home with no interruptions. Of course only the adults knew exactly what that meant Bruce would be giving up, for the day, but Bruce seemed oddly unfazed by the request and had readily agreed.
"Now, I want you to go to bed. So Santa can come, okay." The excitement had taken its toll. Martha was getting sleepy again. Bruce hugged her tight, and tucked her into bed. "I love you, baby, goodnight" Kissing her forehead as she mumbled goodnight, he shut out the light, and stole back into the hall.
The rest of the night passed amiably. It was the best Christmas Eve night of Bruce's adult life. He might not have his parents, and that was a pain that never fully left, but he did have a family. This was the season for joy and family, and he realized that for the first time in his quest he had no desire to leave the mansion and the warmth of the family about him.
The mansion was not quite finished. So Leslie and Rebecca filled stockings and put them on the mantle while Lucius and Bruce finished the tree and stacked the presents neath it. Alfred was making a fresh adult batch of eggnog. They all pitched in rearranging the furniture in the library for the morning, and then sat back again sipping eggnog winding down for bed.
Finally at around one in the morning, Leslie, Lucius, and Alfred turned in, leaving Master and Madam Wayne alone to look out over the mansion grounds. They sat quietly for a time, just reveling in each others' company, and watching the snow gently coat the ground. It was Rebecca who broke the silence.
"Bruce, I don't want you to misunderstand me," he looked at her, moved her face to look at him in the eye, and nodded. "Why did you agree to not go out tomorrow?" She went on quickly before he could answer. "I am glad you're not don't get me wrong, but the Batman is a part of you. When we met and married I agreed that I wouldn't try to change you because if I did you wouldn't be the man I married."
He smiled and kissed her before she could continue. When her breath went short he pulled back. "I know you aren't trying to change me, my dear. I agreed because as much as I do in my parents' memory as Batman, I can just see my parents yelling at me for neglecting my wife and children on a day that is all about family. I don't want to disappoint them in anything. I never thought that I would find you and Dick, let alone have Martha. Nothing can replace, completely the hole the loss of my parents left, but for the first time in my life these last five years or so I have found I don't want to be anywhere, but here for Christmas. Even the Batman needs a night off to be with those that love him and he loves in return." He kissed her again and hugged her to his side.
"Now if I know our son and daughter they will be up quite early, and we want to beat them up. So I think it is time we turned in as well." Rebecca nodded. Bruce took both their empty glasses and put them on the sideboard. They would wait till morning light. He extend his hand to help her to her feet, and they walked arm and arm up to the Master suite.
Four and half hours was the sum total of Bruce's sleep. He wasn't sure what woke him, and then he heard a soft voice go past the door. He gently and quietly slipped from beneath Rebecca, and made his way to the door. He opened it, but the voice was down the hall already toward the staircase. He quickly and stealthily pursued it. He followed all the way to the library.
He meant to face the intruder head on, but what he found was not something Bruce was ready for. He opened the door and found his father and mother sitting in the room. Bruce didn't believe in miracles, nor did he believe in ghosts, perhaps he was hallucinating. That was it! He was hallucinating. His father chuckled, "No, Bruce, you are not hallucinating. Let's just say that time in Tibet and all that meditation paid off. You are sleeping in bed quite peacefully on the brink of waking Christmas Morning."
Bruce's jaw dropped. He had never had an astral projection though Ra's al Gul had said that meditation could with continued use lead to astral trips that he didn't consciously initiate. "Are you both real? Has the last five years been a dream?"
Thomas led his shell-shocked son to sit on the couch between his mother and him. Martha smiled at her boy, and kissed his confused brow. Thomas got his attention again. "Yes, son, we are real. We live now on a different plane of existence. What some might call Heaven. And no, the last five years have been real as well. You are a husband, and a father. You have two beautiful children whom adore you, and a wife that loves you for all the danger you put yourself in."
"Don't misunderstand us, Bruce honey, your father and I are more proud of you than you could know. You have done what others couldn't." His mother gentled.
"Your mother's as wise and smart as she is beautiful, Bruce, and also very right. We are so proud of you. You could have been a victim, but instead you choose to fight back. Soon though, son, the fight will have to end for you." His father was resolute when he said that. Bruce wanted to argue. He wasn't yet forty, and he was in better physical shape than someone in his late twenties.
"Dad, why?" Bruce looked at his father, and it wasn't the strong self-assured man that he had become before him, but his eight year old son.
"Years of over exertion, fighting crime, and neglect have taken a toll on your body, my boy. Your mother and I wanted to tell you that you can settle down when the time comes. You can let go of the fear and the hatred. You have kept your promise to us, and no matter what we want you to live a long happy life. We don't want our grandchildren to suffer losing their Dad the way you did."
He looked at his Dad, but his mother caught his attention. "Little Martha and, especially Dick can't afford to lose you honey. My grandson has already lost his father once. I don't want him to endure it again. You made a promise to us honey the day you buried our bodies. That somehow you would fight the injustice of the world. That you would save Gothom from the criminals. You have. Now, I need you to make us a new promise my young man." He looked at his mom. She looked as beautiful as the day he lost her all those years ago. "Promise us that when the time comes you will put away the Batman. That you will look to your wife and children, look to the family you have left, and take comfort. That when the time comes you will permanently retire the Batman."
Bruce sat there. How could he promise to give up his very identity? In many ways Bruce Wayne was the joke. His wife and those closest to him except one and his children knew. His father smiled at him. "Bruce, we aren't saying you can't help fight crime. What we are asking is that it be a less hazardous kind of help."
He cocked his head perplexed. "How?"
"There is one that when the time comes you can trust. You can tell him the truth, and maybe come to a different kind of arrangement. You are one of the best criminologist of your time. That is very useful even without a cape, Kevlar, and a cowl."
He shook his head. "You mean Jim Gordon. I can't."
His mother put her hands on his in his lap. "Not now sweetie, but when the time comes for the Batman to be put away."
He looked at his parents. They were here. On some level they were real, and he knew if he gave his word he would bind himself to it. He sighed and watched the sun start to peak over the horizon. "Alright, when the time comes I will hang up the Batman forever, tell Jim Gordon my identity, and do whatever I can to live as long as possible for my family."
His mother hugged and kissed him. His father embraced him. "I know that couldn't have been easy Bruce. Alfred did a fine job raising you. We couldn't have asked for better. Remember that Leslie and Lucius are there for you too. All you have to do is use them all. We aren't there on that plane but we are always here." Thomas touched his chest over his heart. "And here," Thomas indicated his son's temple.
"We have to leave soon, baby. Just remember that no matter what we have and always will love you." Martha kissed her son again. She rose and the men joined her.
"I love you, Mommy." It wasn't the 30-something- year-old Bruce that spoke by the little boy that clutched his mother in a bear hug. He wanted to beg them not to go, but he knew it was futile and only cause them pain. She gently backed away to leave father and son in semi-privacy for their good-byes.
Bruce looked at his dad, his eyes swimming in tears. His father opened his arms and his son collapsed into them one last time. "I never said it enough Dad. I love you. I miss you."
Thomas soothed his son and ran a hand through his hair. "I know son, I know. I love and miss you, too. But you are a man I am so proud to call my son. Just make sure that you don't ever neglect those that love you; Lucius, Leslie, Alfred, Rebecca, Dick, and Martha. They will stand by you through anything if you only let them. Have a Merry Christmas son." He disengaged from Bruce and stepped quietly over to his wife.
Then Bruce was waking in the Master suite with Rebecca snuggled up to his right side, and using his shoulder for a pillow. He smiled at her, and gently moved some of her hair. She stirred. "Merry Christmas, beautiful," he gentled. She opened her eyes, and kissed him.
"Merry Christmas, handsome." She stretched, and he moved out of bed. He stretched and flinched as battered muscles were pulled to sharply. Rebecca noticed. "Let's take a shower, and then I'll put some more liniment on those." Bruce nodded. A Christmas morning shower with his lovely wife, he wasn't going to pass it up.
In half an hour they were showed, dressed, and in the Library waiting for the rest of the household. Bruce decided to tell him of her his astral trip. To his amazement she didn't do anything, but hug him all the closer and kissed him soundly. By the time his tale was done Alfred, Leslie, and Lucius had joined them.
"Happy Christmas, Master Bruce, Madam Rebecca, Dr. Thompkins, Lucius." Alfred spoke. They all returned it, and it took a couple minutes for everyone to say Merry Christmas.
By the time they got done they could hear a squeal and two sets of running feet. No one could suppress the grin that came at seeing Martha and Dick so excited. Martha ran straight to Bruce and Rebecca and hugged them. "Merry Christmas, honey," Bruce and Rebecca said almost in unison.
"Merry Christmas, Mommy, Daddy."
Dick was a bit more subdued in his exuberance, but no less happy. Martha jumped off the couch and went and hugged everyone else in the room wishing them Merry Christmas. Dick sat in between the two people that had become his mother and father. "Merry Christmas, Mom, Dad"
"Merry Christmas, Dick," Bruce said ruffling his son's hair.
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," Rebecca intoned hugging him close.
Bruce got a sparkle in his eye, and turned to everyone in the room. "I have an idea. Before we open packages how about we ask Grandpa Alfred real nicely, and maybe he will make us some Hot Chocolate to sip while we unwrap."
A chorus of "Please, Alfred" and "Please, Grandpa" went up. Alfred smiled. He had had every intention of making everyone Peppermint Hot Chocolate before packages were opened. It had become tradition in the last few years.
He tried to suppress the chuckle as he said, "Since everyone asked so nicely. Why not. I'll be back. Don't start without me."
Everyone chorused back, "We won't."
Alfred went into the kitchen and prepared the drinks it was instant Hot Coco, but he added a bit of Peppermint Schnapps to the adults' glasses and Peppermint extract to the kids. He was back with his family in less than ten minutes. He walked into Martha tackling Dick to the ground in between the couch and tree, and tickling him. He passed out the adult cups, and then gently broke up the siblings. Handing them their cups after they had calmed down a bit.
That Christmas was memorable for many reasons. It became tradition for Bruce to not work on Christmas Day. Every year after that Leslie and Lucius stayed Christmas Eve and through Christmas Day. Bruce never forgot his unique Christmas gift, and it happened the summer of his 47th year. He was out walking with Lucius over lunch, it was the hottest day of the year so far, and he passed out cold.
He awoke in hospital with Rebecca sitting next to his bedside. "Becca," he groaned. She gripped his hand, and caressed his cheek.
"I'm here, Bruce. Easy, just relax." Her voice was tinged with concern.
He came more awake, "What happened, Becca?"
"You passed out during lunch with Lucius. That was two days ago." Her voice was quiet.
"There's more. What is wrong, my dear." He was gentle.
"I should let Lucius and Leslie tell you. It is almost 3:30, Martha will be here soon." Bruce knew better than to push. Whatever had happened, whatever was wrong it had shook Rebecca to her core.
Leslie came in. "Hi Bruce. Welcome back."
"Hi Leslie," whatever was wrong he was tired.
"I'll go take Martha to the cafeteria. Leslie, let me know." She kissed Bruce, and quietly took her leave. They waited till she was out of sight and earshot.
"Leslie, what is going on?" Bruce was getting irritated with the ECG and with his fatigue. He had apparently been unconscious for two damn days. How much more sleep did he need?
She sat down and looked at Bruce. That look spoke volumes and he had the distinct feeling that what was about to happen would change his life. "Bruce, there is no easy way of saying this. You have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy."
He groaned. He knew enough medicine to know that his days as Batman had just ended. It was time to hang up the cape and cowl. As soon as he got out of the hospital he would suit up one last time, and tell Jim Gordon who he was.
Bruce spent the next few days in hospital, and then went to Jim Gordon. After he got over the initial shock of who Batman was he hired Bruce Wayne as consulting criminologist. He remained as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He lived to the amazing age of 83. He saw Dick take over Wayne Enterprises and become a leading criminologist, he gave Martha way at her wedding, and saw the birth of four grandchildren. Bruce passed quietly one evening surrounded by family at the mansion. Bruce not surprisingly went before Rebecca, but she didn't live long without him. She joined him less than a year later, after a deep seated brain tumor took her. She was only 75.