Inside the Wayne manor, an old man was walking around, he looked like in his late fifties it early sixties but his hair were completely silver white, he also had a light black mustache and some out of style glasses. The old man entered the manor's empty trophy room, he looks as if he was supposed to expect someone here. The trophy room is large with a burning fireplace, he walks to its side of it and begins sliding his fingers down the concrete and a hole kicks in, revealing a secret switch. The fire goes out as soon as the old man pressed the button and the fireplace pulls up to reveal a secret space, he walks in and on the wall is a handprint scanner, he places his hand on it and it starts glowing green. The old man smiles as another door slides open to reveal an elevator, he walks in presses a button in it and the elevator begins going down as the door closed behind him and everything returns to normal and even the fire turns back on.
It was raining hard outside, the old man could hear the sound of rainwater hitting hard surfaces, the loud thunder and the howling winds, it made him somewhat nervous but still looking forward as tomorrow it might begin snowing. The elevator reaches the bottom floor and the door slides open, and the old man walks out. The place he enters is a very large bunker of sorts, it is a cave that extends far in length and breadth but it has lights installed that lights up almost the entire area and artificial platforms installed. On the centre of this bunker (of sorts) is a small isolated hexagonal platform that is cased from four sides and the remaining ones connect to a driveway that leads to an abandoned train station underneath old Gotham, meaning that this was a parking area of sir kind, and the other connected to the main platform. There were four major platforms, all were connected via stairs and steel pathways. The main one was at the center, its end was connected to the cave's wall. The platform's end had a very long table with too many monitors on it, he could only assume that they were around 20, the desk also appeared to have too much on it. Most of the monitors were turned off (including the largest, possibly the main one), the ones that were on broadcasted news footage or a journalist monologuing about current affairs. The desk itself had a long keyboard, and too many wires to the side, it also had a good framed picture of a young boy around 10 and a couple behind him, presumably his parents. The old man walked to it, picked it up and sighed, he looked upset and guilty.
"Isn't it a little late to be taking rounds in the cave, Alfred?" Asked a voice from behind him.
"I was just here to check up on you, master Bruce." Alfred replied in a British accent.
The Master Bruce was a young man with black hair, and dark blue eyes, he was also unshaven and had huge bags under his eyes. He seemed to be in his late twenties, he was of good height, a little more than six feet and looked fairly strong. He was dressed in gray military trousers and a white sleeveless vest over.
"You look tired, sir. Might I recommend some off time for you to get some sleep?"
"No, I have a lot work on my hands."
"I suppose that 'work' is not about the charity fundraiser for the new hospital for the unprivileged citizens your company is working on."
"No. Lucius said that he will handle it. I am looking through the history of these weapons dealings."
"Oh, really? Than regale me with your findings."
"These arms dealings are being held between Sal Maroni and a new player, its unknown who this is but if I have to take a guess, its possibly a potential rival of the Falcone family."
"Why do you suppose that's the case?"
"Simple. These people are pushing into the Falcone territory, which when Carmine was out was not allowed. I also know that Maroni has been trying to get on the good side of multiple crime families and making alliances left and right, not to mention that some of Falcone's thugs have been bought. Falcone would never allow someone this much freedom to do anything. I believe that this is happening without Falcone's knowledge."
"But with Mr. Falcone in prison, someone else must be in charge of the Falcone crime family."
"Right now, they aren't letting word get out about their current condition, possibly to not alert potential power struggles to family rivals."
"This person, who's selling the weapons to Mr. Maroni, have you gotten a lead on him or her?"
"All I have on him is a pseudonym I got from one of his thugs, he's called The Penguin!"
"With a name like that, I assume he thinks less of himself then even we do." Alfred said sarcastically.
Bruce gives out a slight chuckle. Alfred continues,
"Have you found anything else about this 'Penguin'?"
"Not yet, but I know that Falcone's goons' first meeting was near a place where he supervised a drug trade."
"Interesting. I suppose you would have to investigate about this."
"Yes, but not now. First, I need to look into these dealings."
Alfred turns around to walk away but before he does, he asks,
"Sir, do you need me to bring you something down here."
He simply replies,
"I'm not hungry, I'll eat later when I'm done. You don't need to worry about me, Alfred."
Wrong.
"Sir, I have to worry about you. You are all that is left of Thomas and Martha Wayne's legacy."
Bruce looked a bit turned off, like he doesn't want Alfred to mention them. Yet, when he looks back at him, he's still smiling kindly.
"Alfred, I'm trying to do the best I can, and later hopefully, I will be able to do more. But, the important thing comes first."
"Sir, living up to your family's legacy is more important, you can build a new hospital or open up another school for the unprivileged, but you can't fully honour you family's legacy until you be Bruce Wayne."
Bruce, now looks annoyed. Alfred knows that he doesn't want to live as Bruce Wayne, and he's just pestering him now.
"Alfred, listen. I am Bruce Wayne, that's all they need to know; they need an avatar they can look at, they need a mere man's image to rebuild Gotham from the ground up, someone who brings the city back up and improve the lives of the people who live here, nothing more!"
"Sir, there is more to being a man than just putting on an image. Master Bruce, you can't live like this, beating up the very people you're trying to improve the lives of. A good man is a compassionate, intelligent, and kind. You find catharsis in beating petty criminals and enjoy brooding on rooftops rather than being a man."
"I am not a good man, Alfred. My parents spent years trying to help the city's forgotten and helpless, and what happened? A petty criminal kills them for some shining pearls! My parents were being themselves, being men, and they got struck down BY OTHER MEN!"
Bruce screams, but Alfred looks more upset than intimidated.
sigh* "You do you, sir; I'll be in upstairs. tomorrow might start snowing. I remember how you loved to play in the snow with Master Elliott."
Alfred turns around and starts leaving, Bruce now looks concerned and somewhat guilty, he gets up and goes after him.
"Alfred, look I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come across like that, I'm just tired that's all. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Yes, I understand sir. it's just that I am worried about you, Bruce. I made a promise to your parents all those years ago, that's why I stayed with you in your time of need, it's why I didn't leave when you went missing, it's why I'm still here now."
"What was the promise?"
"To keep you safe, to keep you honest and to look after you in case something happened to you. I feel like I just can't deliver on that promise, or you can't let me."
"Alfred, you have fulfilled your promise. You were the only one there for me when I was in need, you helped me in tough times, and stood beside me when everyone left."
"Yes sir. It's just that I'm getting old, when you get old you don't have a long life ahead of you. I just worry that I couldn't satisfy those who needed me."
"No Alfred, you have satisfied our entire family name and will continue to do so. And besides, old age won't hold you back."
"Yes master Bruce."
Alfred finally enters the elevator, and before the door closes, Bruce gives one last sentence.
"Don't think about it too much, you are the most influential person in my life and you helped it in turning out this way."
Alfred gives a weak smile as the door closes. But, he lost his smile the moment it closed,
"And that's precisely why sir, I feel I have ruined your life."