The shadows seemed to flicker with life. The only light in the cave came from the huge computer monitor that glowed. It illuminated the sole occupant of the cave, an aging man who wheezed as he typed away at the keys. The Great Dane at his side whimpered slightly. "Easy Titan." He said in a low, husky tone. For some reason, he was thinking back across the years, to that dreadful night in Crime Alley. Titan whimpered again, and the entrance to the cave became shadowed. Bruce grabbed his walking stick. Only two living people knew about this secret sanctum. Him and – "Put down the stick old man, it's just me", a youthful voice called – Terry McGinnis, the current Batman. "You're late." He scowled.
"Uh, yeah, sorry. My mom wanted me to help back at home. I meant to call but-"
"You forgot." Bruce finished the sentence flatly. They locked eyes for a moment, before Bruce sat back down and spun back to face the computer.
"Hey Titan. Hey boy." Terry fussed over the Great Dane. "Anything interesting going on?" He asked Bruce as he took off his jacket and ran a hand through his dark hair.
"Not really." Bruce replied. "A couple of muggings, a suspicious apartment fire, but that's all really. Even the Jokers have been rather quiet lately." Terry smiled, and knelt, swinging his bag from his shoulder, reached in and pulled out what seemed to be a mass of black fabric.
"So just patrol?" Terry asked, grinning. He loved the freedom of flying through Gotham.
"Not…not tonight." Bruce said after a moment's hesitation. Terry stared at him questioningly. "I…think it's time you learned a bit more about who I was, Terry. I mean, I won't be around forever."
"Come on old man," Terry joked. "You're too damn stubborn to bite it." He laughed, and turned to Bruce, but the look on the old man's face stopped his laughter almost immediately. Bruce took a deep breath in and sighed.
"I never was the Batman." It seemed as though two voices had said it.
In front of a cold, dead fireplace, an elderly Bruce Wayne drank yet another glass of whiskey. The doctors had told him to slow down on his drink, but it was the only way he knew to silence those screams that had rung in his ears for eighty long years. "I never was the Batman." He admitted, then gave himself back over to the past, filling his glass up again from the bottle beside it.