Alfred drove the family home, piloting the same car he'd dropped Carly and Richard off at the movies in several hours ago. The logical area of his brain reminded him that he was not at fault for what happened to them. While the emotional side of him insisted that it was his job to keep them safe. To stop these sorts of incidents from occurring. One thing was certain, raising a third generation of Waynes was already significantly harder than the last; and it was only the first day.
Bruce sat in the front passenger's seat. He adjusted his suit jacket uncomfortably. He really had dressed hastily after finding his wife and foster son in the alley and disarming those thugs. He'd raced home as Batman, quickly changed into a suit as Bruce Wayne and waited for Carly to call from the police station. After several anxious hours with the police, Bruce watched his family in the rearview mirror. He felt like he could relax for the first time all afternoon with everyone together again.
Dick was asleep in the back seat. His head was resting lightly on Carly's chest. Elinor the elephant was held loosely between his arms as he slept. Carly had her left arm protectively around him, holding him close, as she watched the Gotham streets through the window. The crowds of people were still hustling to and from despite the darkening sky above them. When they reached the city limits, she watched the trees near the road pass by instead. Eventually they came up on the Manor's main gate. Alfred entered his security code and drove the car to the garage.
"I'll get him to bed and then I'm going downstairs." Bruce told Alfred and Carly once they were in the house.
"Do you have a plan on how to find out who's behind this?" Carly yawned herself as she watched Dick snoozing. She gave Alfred a good night kiss on the cheek and thanked him for everything before the couple took their conversation to the grand staircase.
"I have an idea on for a plan, but we're going to need help from the...others." Bruce stopped short of naming the League outright as Dick began to stir in his arms.
"Let me put him to bed." Carly held out her arms insistently.
"It's alright." Bruce whispered, already adjusting his hold on the boy to support his new position.
"You want to make sure his room is secure." Carly stated as she followed him up the stairs.
"Ours too." She barely heard him say over his shoulder.
Together she and Bruce tucked Dick and Elinore into the bed. Leo was happy to provide his services as well. As soon as Dick's Justice League comforter was pulled up to his shoulders the cat hopped onto the bed and curled up at his feet. Bruce checked the remaining rooms on their floor to make sure they were completely empty before he joined her back outside in the hallway.
"Now that it's just the two of us," He said when he softly closed the door to the last unoccupied bedroom behind him. "Tell me honestly, Car, are you alright?" Bruce studied her face. He expected her to say that she was fine. Carly always said that she was fine. Anything else would be seen as a weakness in her own eyes. It was a learned behavior from her difficult childhood. She never wanted anyone to get too far past her first few layers of defense, but with enough persistence he could usually get the truth out of her.
"I'm scared." She sighed in relief, feeling like she could breathe easily for the first time all afternoon. He was surprised by her outright confession. This sort of answer typically took hours to pry out of her. Then, he supposed she had been rather forthcoming with her opinions over the last few weeks. Maybe it was that they had so many secrets from the rest of the world, she'd decided they should share absolutely everything between them.
"You know, there's something about fighting for someone else's life..." Carly continued. She cast her eyes away from her husband. She couldn't look at Bruce while she explained herself. Admitting her fears was one thing, looking into his warm understanding face while she did it, was just too much. "When it's your own life on the line, you can convince yourself that you did everything you could, but when the life in your hands isn't your own...when it's a child? Someone who needs you to protect them...It's terrifying." Carly looked down at her arm. The same arm that Dick had been clinging to in the alleyway.
"What happened?" Bruce asked, motioning for her to hold out her arm for his inspection.
"Dick was afraid." She explained. "He was latched onto my arm like a starfish. He was holding on so tight, he left little bruises." Bruce turned his head trying to get a better look at the small purplish circles. There were about six or seven of them, he could barely make out three small crescent shaped cuts that probably came from Dick's fingernails.
"You should get some ice on that." Bruce decided.
"Should we continue this conversation in the kitchen then?" She suggested following him down the stairs. Bruce shook his head.
"I know that Gorden's men just left, but I want to do a perimeter check myself." He confessed. "You've had a difficult day." He added with a gently kiss. "Why don't you get some rest? We'll talk about this more tomorrow."
"Bruce?" He could hardly hear her calling out to him so he turned around.
"Hmmm?"
"Do you really think they'd try something here?" She asked with worry running across her face. He wanted to lie to here. To tell her that he was being overly cautious, just planning for all possibilities. He wanted to tell her that there was no reason to worry, but he knew that she'd worry whether he told her the truth or not.
"They were bold enough to try something on a crowded street, mid-day." He pointed out. "But the mansion's pretty far out of town. Anyone headed here would have to have a good reason to come all the way, without drawing any attention. It's a relatively safe bet that there's no one else here. Put some ice on that arm and get some rest." He instructed with a firm kiss on the temple for good measure.
"Love you too, B." She whispered as he slipped out the front door.
