Batman returns to the Batcave with Alfred already inside, eating some food he made originally for Bruce. "I can't let my food go to waste, Master Bruce." Alfred remarks.
Batman takes off his mask and puts it on a nearby table, walking towards Alfred who has another tray of food. "But don't worry, I always have plenty to spare."
Bruce ignores it like it's nothing. He turns on the Batcomputer and sees the city through CCTV footage with the anti-air defenses mounted on rooftops. "Oh my word!" Alfred gasps.
"Bane militarized the city in my absence." Bruce informs. "And he's not dead yet."
Alfred clears his throat, and reasserts himself as he looks around and sees only Bruce has returned, and not Barbara or Dick. "Where are the others?" Alfred asks.
Bruce is silent, wondering the same thing. He turns on their live feed replay and only sees the replay from before or during the fight, but not after. He switches to the tracking mode and sees they're moving out of Gotham City, and on their way to Blüdhaven it looks like. "Are they on a case?" Alfred asks.
"No," Bruce answers coldly. "they quit."
He then goes back to the CCTV footage, upset. "What did you do?" Alfred questions, dismayed.
Bruce doesn't answer. But Alfred believes he knows all too well.
"Oh dear…" he comments, distressed.
Alfred tries to reassert himself and redirects the topic. "Shouldn't you be in the medical bay? I just cleaned the floor and you're bleeding all over it."
"No. There's too much to focus on." Bruce bluntly answers back.
Alfred sighs with distress as Bruce goes to the workbench to make more explosive gel, seeing as it was so effective last time. Planning to utilize bigger portions to incapacitate Bane, and go in for the kill. Without spraying on his hand this time.
"You need to rest!"
Before Bruce can object, Alfred injects him in the neck to disorient him, knocking him out shortly after. The only way Alfred saw being able to stop him was with such a high dose.
Alfred contemplated for so long doing such a thing, but he felt it was wrong. He still does, though there was no other choice. Regretful that he didn't do this sooner. Before things got out of hand. Bruce will be out for two hours or so.
Alfred takes the gurney from the MedBay and drags it over to the workbench to put Bruce on it. Heavier than he thought, or could barely lift over his shoulders. Finally, he gets him back on the gurney and takes it back to the MedBay.
Alfred takes it upon himself to undress Bruce, taking off his suit and patching it up. When done, he puts it back in the display case, turns off the lights, and then watches it as it descends back into the surface.
He fiddles with the console for the suit some more, and reconfigures the access protocols, at which point he disables Bruce's access. Retinal, handprint, or voice recognition. Applying a server-wide confirmation throughout all the Batcaves in the city. Then turning the console back off.
Now that Alfred is sure that Bruce won't go on anymore dangerous tirades, he turns his attention to patching him back to health. Afterwards, he straps Bruce into the gurney, making sure he doesn't get out when he awakes. So he can rest. He finishes patching him up around the time the drug wears off, trying to work as fast as he can.
By the time he finishes, he heads back up to the Manor. To his bedroom. Once there, he can't help but stare at the Wayne Family picture frame on his wall, and feel worthless. Like he's broken the promise he made all those years ago. He breaks down in tears as he falls to his knees, deeply hurt by the things he's let slip through his fingers. "I failed you." He mutters under his breath. "I failed you." He repeats.
As he ponders on the notion that the little boy in a dark alley is no longer a child. A child that grew up faster than he could keep up with.
Downstairs, in the Batcave, Bruce comes to moments after Alfred leaves. His clouded mind takes some time to clear up. Once he's able to form a coherent thought, he looks around and sees he's at the MedBay, and not the Workbench. His Batsuit is removed, and he's strapped down to a gurney.
He's covered in bandages, and one of his arms is in a cast. Bruce becomes livid. He can't afford to waste time. He tries to get out but he's still a little fuzzy from the drug, and he's unable to get out of the restraints. After a number of tries, he decides to take a moment to catch his breath, muttering in anger his disapproval about Alfred's decision.
He doesn't know what Alfred did with the Batsuit, but he's sure it's something he won't like. As he rests on the gurney, helpless and in pain still, he stares the top of the cave. Contemplating about what to do next, and how to deal with Bane. Or what Alfred did this time. His mind then goes to Barbara and Dick. Them possibly done with hero business in Gotham, or with him. He feels guilty deep inside, but sacrifices had to be made.
He tries to slide his good arm out from under the restraint, and manages to succeed. He tries to work one of the buckles but it's in really tight. Eventually he manages to free himself of the buckles of the straps and wanders back to the Batsuit chamber, only to find he's locked out. He tries retinal, voice, and handprint recognition, and is met with access denied. He tries it repeatedly, and concludes that Alfred locked him out.
His irritation begins to boil up until it tips over and Bruce snaps, smashing the console. He falls to his knees in disappointment, left with no options, despite having every condition evaluated with another alternative.
But this time, he's forced to play the game Alfred's way. As the fury boils back up, Bruce swears under his breath, thinking about what he could've done. Cursing his life-long companion. "Dammit, Alfred."