Alfred was happy to have the evening off. Dr. and Mrs. Wayne were taking little Bruce to the opera. Though Alfred knew he would enjoy his night off, he felt a bit sorry for Bruce. He didn't think a child would want to sit through an entire opera. He knew he would have been bored by it at that age. But it was good for Thomas and Martha to have a night with their son. They spent as much time with him as they could, but they were busy people. They truly loved Bruce, and Alfred knew that even if Bruce didn't appreciate the opera tonight, he would someday appreciate his parents including him.

Alfred sat down with his tea and opened his book. It was his favorite mystery book. He enjoyed it so much that he barely noticed the time. He expected the Wayne family would be back by now. Then he heard the phone ringing.

"It must be Master Wayne. I hope everything is alright." Nothing could have prepared him for the truth.

"You've reached Wayne Manor."

"Hello. This is Officer Gordon with the Gotham Police Department."

"Good evening, Officer. Is everything alright?"

"I'm afraid not, sir. There's been an incident involving the Wayne family."

This worried Alfred. He had worked for the Wayne family for a long time. He knew they couldn't have done anything wrong. Neither Dr. nor Mrs. Wayne would have ever hurt a fly. He knew if there had truly been an incident, his employers had to have been the victims, not the perpetrators.

"Oh dear. What happened?"

"There was a mugging, sir. There's no easy way of telling you this. Thomas and Martha Wayne were shot. Neither of them survived. I'm so sorry, sir."

Alfred had never been so full of emotions. He felt shocked, to say the least. He almost didn't believe it. Dr. and Mrs. Wayne had been so good to him. He was their employee, sure, but they always treated him with respect and even care. He was almost a member of the family. Then his thoughts rushed to Bruce. Was the boy alright? Alfred could hardly bear the loss of Dr. and Mrs. Wayne, let alone the child.

"Sir? Are you there?"

"Yes, Officer. I'm just shocked that's all. Their son was with them tonight. Is he there? Is he alright?"

"He's here. He wasn't injured, thankfully. He witnessed the shooting, though. He's still in shock. We're going to need to have someone pick him up. We are done questioning him for tonight. He's been through enough."

"I understand. I'll be at the station to pick him up as soon as possible."

"Thank you, sir."

Alfred got into the car as quickly as he could. He was grief-stricken for Thomas and Martha, but he knew he couldn't show too much in front of Bruce. He couldn't imagine the pain Bruce must be going through. The very thought filled Alfred with a new pain. Alfred had known Bruce since Martha gave birth to him in Wayne Manor. Alfred didn't simply view Bruce as the son of his employers. He viewed Bruce as the son he never had. He knew Bruce needed someone right now. He was determined to help the child through this however he could. He didn't know how he would accomplish this, though. He just hoped he would figure it out. Alfred took a moment to gather his thoughts before walking into the police station. He walked up to the front desk.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes. I'm Alfred Pennyworth. I'm the Wayne family butler. I was told to come pick him up."

"Of course. I'll take you to him."

After walking through the station a little, Alfred saw Bruce curled up in a chair. A wave of pain shot through Alfred. Seeing the usually playful boy looking so traumatized, so helpless, hurt him. Alfred thanked the officer who showed him there and was greeted by another man.

"Are you Alfred Pennyworth? I'm Officer Gordon. We spoke on the phone."

"Yes. Good evening, Officer." Even on a night like tonight, it wasn't Alfred's way to be impolite.

"Bruce is over here. As far as we can tell, the Waynes intended you to be his legal guardian if anything happened to him. Are you aware of that?"

Alfred had known that. He had gone through his employers' arrangements with them. He never would have imagined it would be necessary, though.

"Yes. We went over their affairs together." A pained look washed over Alfred's face. "I told Dr. Wayne he was too young to think about such things. He told me he needed to look out for Bruce."

"Well, there's going to be quite a bit of paperwork in the future to make it official, but, given the circumstances, we'll just send him home with you tonight if that's ok, Mr. Pennyworth."

"Yes, of course. I think I should be getting him home soon."

"He's had a rough night. We may need to ask him more questions later. He was too traumatized when we found him to give a description of their killer, which would be useful. The poor kid was the only witness. But tonight he's had enough."

"Yes, I suppose he has."

"You knew them well, sir?"

"Yes, very well. The Waynes might as well be, er, might as well have been a part of my family."

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Pennyworth."

"So am I, Officer. But now isn't the time. Bruce needs me."