Richard: Chapter 14

Lord Eddard Stark looked as great and awe-inspiring in the flesh as he had been depicted in Alfred's stories, and the rumors and tales he had heard on the road in the circus. His eyes, they look so cold, yet he doesn't seem a cold person.

Lord Stark knelt and hugged his daughters, "Now mind Alfred's word and keep out of trouble. I'll only be gone a few hours and I expect my daughters to behave as the noble ladies they one day will become. So Arya, no fighting in the feasting hall with the Grayson boy." Eddard looked up from his daughters to meet Dick's gaze where he stood twenty paces from them and allowed a small smile. "Although I know swordplay can be tempting on a boring day to be sure," he finished as he stood. He turned and left the castle through the main doors as Alfred led them to the guest dining hall for their afternoon meal.

Arya rolled her peas around her plate's edge with her fork. She rested her head on her hand, looking as bored as she was unruly. Alfred had left them to fetch more water for their cups. Sansa was nibbling slowly and dutifully away at her meal. Dick however, was anxious. He felt as if he was chained to his seat by metal stronger than Valyrian steel. It was as if the seat of his chair was burning into his bottom, Dick needed to fly.

Bruce had ordered a pause to their training so long as the Starks were their guests. Dick had argued adamantly against the decision but Alfred and Bruce were the two bearers of the only keys to Thomas Wayne's study so it mattered not. Yet he still gets to go out at night as Batman, that's fair.

Dick noticed he was sitting in a similar position to Arya, bored and leaning on his right hand. He had come to appreciate her company greatly. Dick could not remember the last time he had a child his age to play with or talk to. Being in Bruce's castle only made that more apparent as his only company for a majority of the time was Alfred. While Sansa was no doubt beautiful, Arya had a certain authenticity about her that Dick valued.

Nightwing jumped down from its perch atop Dick's seat to pick at the chicken he had left on the plate. Arya giggled and Sansa sat back in alarm. Arya took notice of her sister's reaction. "Sansa stop being such a prude. Dick, does he eat a lot?"

Dick smiled, "I suppose. He can glide now but still cannot fly. I feed him pieces of chicken and pork throughout the day. When he can fly though, he'll be able to catch his own meals. Mice and squirrels and snakes and such."

"But when he can fly, what will stop him from flying away?" Arya asked. Dick was taken aback, he had not thought of that before. He looked at Nightwing, as his eyes met the gaze of the dark brown orbs in the bird's skull. If you take flight, will you come back?

Dick was interrupted as the doors to the hall opened at the far end of the room, but Alfred was not the one to open them. Lucius Fox strode down the hall wearing a black silk doublet and his typical pearl-white smile. "Hello children, and how are your days thus far?" He called out as he neared where they sat.

He sat down beside Dick, opposite Sansa, and picked a chicken's leg from the boy's plate. Nightwing turned from the chicken breast it was pecking at to stare at Lucius. Lucius smiled apologetically at the bird, "Oh were you going to eat this? My apologies."

As Lucius bit into the meat, Dick turned to ask him a question. "Lucius what are you doing here? You never eat in the feasting hall."

Lucius laughed, "No I suppose I don't, but since our guests arrived Lord Wayne saw fit to give me a bit of a reprieve from my duties. Mm this is some finely cooked bird. So tell me girls, how has your stay in our, lovely, city been?"

Sansa replied first, "Your city is beautiful ser. It is a most wondrous city, matching even King's Landing in how fair the landscape and structures are."

Lucius laughed so hard that he accidentally dropped the leg from his hand. "My dear, surely you do not speak of Gotham? The description you just gave me surely sounded that of some city built from jade, but surely not Gotham. Also m'lady, Gotham is not my city. The place in which I come from is a cluster of shacks and tents and is poorer than even the lowest part of King's Landing."

Arya spoke up now, "I want to actually see Gotham. We've been imprisoned in this castle up on the hill so far away from everything!"

Dick smiled, "I'll ask Bruce to see if he will let us go out to see the city. Tomorrow perhaps, I don't see why he would say no."

It is too dangerous, criminals are everywhere, let alone the Joker is still out there, Dick thought of the argument that Bruce would give. If Dick couldn't train to protect the city then at least going out to see it with Arya would be a welcomed experience. The castle was such a dull place and he needed to get out of it, if only for a few hours.

Lucius spoke, "Well I suppose Lord Wayne could allow it. I could always send some of our wall guard off with you for some added protection."

Alfred entered through the doors now, "Ah Lucius, what a surprise to see you joining us at the table."

The Summer Islander chuckled, "Well I was just leaving as it were. Dick, if you could join me for a moment."

Dick lifted his head in surprise at Lucius' request but followed him out the door with Nightwing on his shoulder. Lucius led him into a guest bedroom and turned on him once they were alone with a large smile and his hand behind his back.

"Are you ready for your surprise lad?"

Dick smirked, "What is it? Another outfit? New weapons? A cape of a different color?"

Lucius chuckled and shook his head. He slid his hand out from behind him with a black cloth grasped in his clenched hand. "Try it on."

Dick took the cloth and looked it over for a few minutes in confusion until he found two holes cut into it. He smiled and looked up to Lucius in gratitude as he lifted the cloth to his face. He lined the holes up with his eyes, the fabric stopping partway down his nose and just under his hairline. He tied it off in the back with a tight knot and turned to look at himself in the mirror. The lower half of his face was visible, and his hair flowed freely from his scalp, but the upper half of his face was now shrouded in black. Just as Batman's is.

Lucius smiled, "I figured you had your garments, your armaments, your name, but you were missing that small piece of something more. The wall, that separates Richard Grayson, and Robin."

James: Chapter 17

"Barbara, I…I'm doing everything I can. With your mother gone, that shack is filled with nothing but pain. It just reminds me of everything, I-I don't know how to deal with that. Maybe we should put it to the torch and find a new home?" James told his daughter only half in jest.

"Father, we cannot just leave the place. It hurts me to be there too, but I'm not ready to just give up. We need to keep going. What was it you always told me as a little girl? 'One foot in front of the other and before you know it you'll be where you were heading'?" Barbara replied with a smirk and a long stare of determination.

James smiled, she will not quit this. He rose and laid a hand on her shoulder, "You still are a little girl, even if but in my eyes only."

Barbara smiled and hugged her father. "We'll get through this father, just how we do with everything."

Before James could respond there was a knock at the door. Harvey Bullock entered slowly, surprised at Barbara's presence before stuttering, "Uh, Ser…there is a visitor."

"If it's Nigma again tell him that I-"

Harvey cut him off, "It isn't Nigma, Ser…"

A man rounded the corner into James' solar that made his jaw drop in shock. The stranger smiled and raised a hand, "My pardons, Ser Gordon, I did not mean to intrude upon your family time. I have daughters as well, I know how…large of a handful they can be at times."

James met gazes with the cold eyes of Lord Eddard Stark. "M-my lord, I was not expecting you. I had heard you had visited the city but surely was not-"

Lord Stark waved his hand in dismissal, "It is truly fine Ser, I had planned to visit yesterday but my girls were tired from all of the traveling they've been put through recently so we retired to Lord Wayne's castle for the night. If you are busy dealing with other matters currently I can always return later."

James shook his head, "No, no my lord. Now is suitable. Barbara I'll be home later for supper. Harv', give us a moment and see to it that my daughter makes it home safely."

"Aye Ser," he replied and followed Barbara out the door and closed it behind him.

"Would you like a chair my lord? Or something to drink?" James pulled out his chair from his desk and turned it to face the wintery lord. He nodded in appreciation and sat down as James pulled up a stool and sat facing Eddard. He looks every bit the noble man he sounds in the stories. James had never met Lord Stark, but had looked up to him as a symbol of duty and honor that was rare in this kingdom. James had always felt a certain kinship with the man, as they both were sworn by duty to serve and protect, but bound by morality to be fair and just. Of all of the men I've met, I believe this man across from me could understand me best.

It appeared Lord Eddard agreed in the most part, "I am told that you are a very noble man, in a city that is said to be shrouded in selfishness and corruption."

"You are correct my lord, this city is tragically corrupt."

He winced his eyes and tilted his head, "Modest I can see, but if the city is so hopeless, why remain?"

James swallowed, mustering up his courage for what he was about to say next. "There you are in the wrong my lord. This city is not hopeless."

"Ah, so the city is plagued by darkness, but yet you see the light. Do you feel this light to be, this Batman, perhaps?"

"He is not the light, no, but I believe he plays his role in lighting the way." Batman had already done more for this city than James could recall any lord doing for them since the Waynes had died. Even the new, residing lord of the Waynes had done little since his return. James was not sure what to make of the Batman or whether he should be pursuing or helping him, but the masked stranger was clearly doing some good for the city, and that was something James direly needed.

"When Lord Tywin was here, he wanted the Batman arrested. When he leaves, he sends his dogs here to do his bidding for him. Have you decided upon a course of action, Ser Gordon? Or what to do with this, Caped Crusader, running through your city at night?"

"Gotham has always tried to stay out of wars and struggles, as I am sure you know. When you and King Robert were battling the Mad King for the kingdom, we sent our men and swords, but we still remained…distant. As much as the crime says the opposite, we are a peaceful city. We are no Casterly Rock or Highgarden. The city does not get involved in the game of thrones or struggles for power. We stay here at our ports and farmlands letting the rest of the kingdom fight for their honor or lands. We accept all travelers, we give work to any capable hand, we just continue on as the world does. As such, we do not have many capable soldiers, and any bannermen to the Waynes were lost when the heir disappeared for a decade.

We are a crippled, vulnerable city. I see that plainly, I have no delusions. Hence why we cannot afford an enemy as powerful as Casterly Rock. If even half of their bannermen rode to these walls to take the city, they would have us within a fortnight. So during Lord Tywin's stay, I appeased him. Even now, I let his men claim Arkham Castle as their own to build whatever form of prison they hope to, so long as it is within reason. I let their dog, Edward Nigma, put his wet nose to the street stone in hopes of discovering the face behind Batman's mask. And I label Batman as a criminal that needs to be arrested because I know that he can take it. So yes, I follow Lord Tywin's orders to protect my people, just as I do as head of the City Watch everyday, but not for a moment do I let that affect my view of Batman or what he does for this city," James replied adamantly. After a few moments of silence, and his courage deflated, James panicked. I just…I just snapped at the Lord Hand of Westoros as if he were a boy. How grand of a fool am I that-…

James' inner thoughts were interrupted as Lord Stark chuckled. "Aye, you are every stone of the man I have been told you are. I know your city is in a state of upheaval, but I can rest assured that at least there is a man with a steady head at its front. While I do not fully agree with your city's isolation and hesitance to aid in causes such as our rebellion against the king, every lord has their own rules. Your city is…odd, to say the least. Most lords jump at the chance for glory or to put their lips to their ruling lord's ass. But when you spoke, you made the city sound as if it were, alive."

Lord Stark stared into James' eyes, two men standing tall amongst centuries of men choosing to turn away from the problems that plagued their homes. "That's because it is alive my lord. I know it sounds mad, but this city always finds a way to defend itself. Whenever a man comes with leagues of soldiers at his back, the city finds a way to save itself. With Lord Tywin…I just didn't want to tempt fate."

Eddard nodded, "Very well Ser. Now tell me about this Batman. How you spoke, you sounded as if you knew him."

James sighed as he stood and poured himself a cup of ale. "The Batman made contact with me the night of the Graysons' deaths. The night Wayne was having his return feast and celebration. He wanted the name I found of the man who killed them. I gave it to him."

"You gave the name to a masked vigilante? Someone whom you'd just met, and had no idea who he truly was? Why?"

James looked out the window, slowly turning his wrist to swirl the ale in his cup. "I couldn't tell you now, I just felt, it was the right thing to do at the time. I had a feeling in my gut that I could trust him."

"And how did that turn out?" the Northern lord asked suspiciously.

James sighed once more, "He broke both of the man's legs, crippled another four for life, and the remaining all needed to be tended to by healers for a month."

He turned back to face the lord in time to see his lips twitch into a wry smirk before returning to their previous thinned line. "So you trust the man, and then he returns your kindness with that. Has he spoken to you since?"

James decided to lie, "No, he's kept to himself since then. He went missing for more than a month, during Lord Tywin's stay here."

Eddard moved on, "Ah yes, Lord Tywin's visit. Tell me, why did he feel the need to come to Gotham? To help protect it?"

"I don't know my lord, but it mattered not. His stay was ended quick enough, despite whatever Lord Tywin had planned." James thought back to Borsan lifting his helmet to reveal that pale white face and blood red lips. James could still hear the Joker's laughter haunting his dreams at night. No matter whether it was a dream of Sarah or one of his days as a knight in Highgarden, that demonic HAHAHA! could be heard echoing throughout his imaginings. It kept James from sleep on more than one occasion.

Lord Eddard waited a moment before replying, "Yes, the Joker. You've met him?"

"Yes…much to my dismay."

"Tell me about him." Lord Eddard shifted in his seat, the wood creaked as it adjusted with the man atop it.

"He wishes you to think he's mad, madder than Aerys was, but he isn't. He is touched with it I agree, but he is not swinging at spirits and speaking to voices in his own head. No, his mind works well enough, more than that. He's smart, he knows exactly what he's doing but wishes the rest of the world to think he's just some mad dog chasing and nipping at a bone just out of reach. This chaos he creates, no man can contain it, not even him. But the Joker has found a way to direct it. That is why I think this city, hell perhaps even all of Westoros, needs the Batman. Joker is an unstoppable force that neither I nor my men can deal with, and Batman is the immovable object that is needed to combat it. He's the only one that stands a chance, if we can even call it that, of stopping this madman. Batman has not killed, he doesn't even wield a sword. He's not even a man."

Eddard cocked his head, "What do you mean, he isn't a man?"

"Men are petty, angry, corruptible. They can be torn down, shown to the world how small they truly are. Batman doesn't show his face, all he shows is that pointed helmet and the bat across his chest. He's a symbol, he has no face. He could be me, a baker, a sailor, one of my men, even a beggar. That's the point of Batman, there is nowhere to target. Batman can target Joker, but Joker can't strike back at Batman. He has nothing to tear him down with."

The Lord Hand was slowly nodding his head as he took in what James was saying. "Because Batman could be anyone?"

"Yes," James returned firmly.

"So he has a target. Everyone," Lord Stark replied as coldly as winter in the North.

James didn't know how to respond to the statement, instead choosing to finish his ale as he turned back to the window. Lord Stark clearly could tell the weight the entire ordeal was having on James' mind as he stood and addressed James once more.

"If I were to speak plainly, and only to your ears. I would have done the same thing."

James turned around to face his visitor. "My lord?"

"I would have given Batman the name. I would have continued meeting him in secret as I'm sure you have done, despite what you said. I would trust my gut and trust Batman to know what is right to help me protect my home and my people," he said with a sudden care and warmth in his voice.

James once again was left speechless. "T-thank you, my lord."

Ned stood from his seat and adjusted his sword belt and cloak. "Now, I have heard that Lord Tywin sent some rather interesting, guests, shall we say, to your city in his absence."

"Ah yes, Edward Nigma. He's most likely out about the city now but I could send word and summon him my lord."

"No, no. The other guest, this Hugo Strange. Your lord told me that he has taken up residence in an old, abandoned castle down in Gotham Bay. Arkham Castle is it not?" Eddard moved to the door and opened it swiftly as he stood in its entranceway.

James took up his swordbelt and scabbard from its place on his desk as he figured the lord's intentions. "No longer my lord, Strange has renamed it Arkham Asylum."

Alfred: Chapter 17

"What are they up to now?" Lucius asked as they sat on the balcony at the back of Wayne Castle, looking out towards the bay.

"Sansa is in her chambers sewing I believe, Arya and young Master Richard…trouble no doubt," Alfred said with the sincerest of smiles. He was grateful to see the young boy find a friend of his own age to play with. They do make an odd, but rather amusing pair. Seeing the foot prints inlaid in the dusty table top in the guest dining hall caused Alfred to break into a hearty laugh.

Lucius chuckled, "Ahh youth. Remember when we were lads with sticks playing knight? Ha! The small trees and tall grass that did suffer my wrath…what was it that you fought Alfred?"

Alfred smiled, "My father, before he left to become the Waynes' servant. I remained in Dorne and took up arms for Prince Doran. My time playing knight was short, granted I never fully became a knight."

Alfred remembered his father, the way his dark gray hair clung to his cheeks in thick sideburns. His longish nose, stern eyes, the faint scar on his neck from where a knife had once kissed it, it all was vivid in Alfred's memories.

"Due to your journey up here to serve the Waynes when your father passed?"

The Dornishman nodded, "Precisely."

"Do you ever miss it? The marching, talking with men that were like your brothers but bound by something stronger than blood, seeing such sights beyond a castle's walls or beyond the curve of the earth where sky kisses sea?" Lucius lost himself in his recollections as he looked out at the bay.

The sun was nearing the earth now, and while the sky was still a deep blue, the sea had grown dark orange as it reflected the sun's light. Gulls were flying about like flies above a corpse, fishermans' boats scattered across the water, and in the distance the island of Greenshield poked up from the sea like a rolling hill. The Shield Islands were a collection of four small isles guarding the mouth of the Mander River to the south for which they were named, but also effectively shielded Gotham from any raiders or dangers the open salt sea might bring. Lord Moribald Chester ruled over Greenshield, Alfred had never met the man but heard he was a pleasant enough ruler.

"Miss what? The death? The sight of blood, scent of rotting corpses, watching boys become men through bloodshed only to meet their own untimely demise? No, I do not miss a moment of it." On occasion, Alfred saw the faces of the men he had killed in his dreams, but usually his sleeping hours were barren and black.

Lucius took another sip from his drink, "I do miss the sea, but not much else of it. The women of the ports we visited were also a very pleasant sight if I do say. I think Bruce gives us our fair share of blood sight now anyways, Haha!"

Alfred slunk back into his chair and allowed his eyes to close. "Yes, he does indeed." Alfred's mind wandered to the conversation he had had with Lord Stark that morning. If only Bruce had been older when they were taken. He would have been able to see the light in this world still. Age would have given him a different pair of eyes that brought a more trusting view of the world.

He was pulled from his mental articulation as he heard Lucius address an unexpected guest. "Well good day m'lady, how are you?"

"I am well ser, thank you. I was wondering if I might join you, my chambers are awfully quiet and I would appreciate some company," Alfred heard Sansa Stark's soft, timid voice say.

Alfred opened his eyes immediately and stood to pull a chair up beside him for the young, future queen. She smiled and nodded in thanks before smoothing out her dress behind her and sitting. She was wearing a teal summer dress with a white strand of yarn running up its front, tightening it to her chest. Her auburn hair gracefully flowed before her, she truly did appear as a young queen in the making.

"What were you discussing sers? I am sorry if I have disrupted or ruined your conversation…" she apologized meekly.

Alfred spoke up now, "No, no my lady, you are fine. We are merely two old goats discussing our years of youth at war."

"Was war exciting? Fighting for honor and glory?" She asked enthusiastically. Poor, poor girl. She still believes wars to be fought for men's pride. She has so much to learn of the world.

Lucius chuckled, "Ah yes, Alfred how did that honor play out? You're a servant and I'm but a smith. Quite the high life we live, is it not?"

Sansa looked from Lucius to Alfred confusedly. Alfred smiled and attempted to alleviate her concerns. "My lady, war is as far from honorable and glorious as the Jade Sea is from the Iron Islands. There is nothing grand about men dying aimlessly on the battlefield."

"But they are dying for their king, or their liege lords. They are bringing honor to their name and houses," Sansa defended.

Lucius chimed in, "That may be, if they are foolish enough to believe it. But for the rest of us, men without lands, without titles, families, even houses, war is nothing but destruction. Ain't that the truth of it, my friend?"

Alfred sipped from his glass, "Lucius perhaps we should refrain from such, honesty, in front of such royal company."

"Ah my pardons, m'lady, I did not mean to offend," the Summer Islander said as he took another drink.

"You did not offend ser, please, continue. Alfred, surely your house has a great deal of honor after serving House Wayne for so many years."

Alfred chuckled, "My lady, there is very little honor to be had in a house of servants. My father served Thomas Wayne and his father Patrick Wayne. My father's father served Kenneth Wayne before him. My house, if it is it be named as such, has no words, titles, or lands. Our last name, Pennyworth, springs from a jest five generations past that my family's worth could be equated to that of a copper penny. So, my ancestor Jarrick, having moved here with nothing but the shirt on his back and being the contemptuous man that he was, took it as his name. From that day forward he was Jarrick Pennyworth, and sired a family in Dorne that continued down the line to me."

"Do you have any family in Dorne, ser?"

"Not in Dorne, no."

"Where then, ser? A daughter? Parents?" She asked with a curious smile. She will grow into a beautiful queen someday.

"A son, and I know not where. Last I saw of him he was sailing off on a ship to foreign lands, searching for purpose. That was a very long time ago…"

Sansa leaned forward in her chair in anticipation. "You have heard no word since? You don't know how he fares?"

"I have heard word yes, and he fares well. He has found his purpose, and has seen many a wondrous thing in this world. I only hope he is able to find happiness as well."

"Are you proud of him, Alfred?"

Alfred looked to the girl and stared into her vivid blue eyes and smiled. "Until the day I die, my lady." Sansa sat back in her chair contentedly, looking off into the distance as she thought over Alfred's fond recounting of his son. Lucius simply cracked a wide grin, understanding Alfred's true meaning, and finished off his drink.