Disclaimer: Do I look like I own a big time animation and comic industry? Nah.

REWRITTEN: 15/07/2017


Chapter 2: What Do People Think?

There was a time when Bruce Wayne, the sole heir of the world- known Wayne Enterprises, disappeared off the face of the planet Earth without a trace. People talk of course, speculations and gossips circulate around, and it wasn't a far fetch thing to say that every single human being on the planet had heard of the young billionaire's disappearance.

Nobody knows what happened to Bruce Wayne though. He just disappeared one day, and then that day turned into days, those days turned into weeks, until those weeks turned into months. Nobody had ever seen him again.

No one, except for one person: the butler.

Since nobody could find any leads where Bruce Wayne could possibly be, they switched their focus to that one person.

Alfred Pennyworth. Black hair with a few greying strands, blue eyes, currently in his mid- 50's, 6'7 feet in height, had a fine built even in his old age due to his military background, had been serving the Wayne's for more than 22 years, had a ridiculously thick British accent and a moustache. He's believed as the last person who had seen the Mr. Wayne.

Populates' main suspect.

The butler is a serial killer, they say. He killed Mr. Wayne and buried his body somewhere in the Wayne's manor expansive grounds. He wants the family's wealth for himself…

No, other people say. That's too cliché. Maybe Mr. Wayne either caught a weird or deadly disease and he is currently recuperating privately somewhere. The faithful butler couldn't have done such horrendous thing; he's a gentleman's gentleman.

Stupid! Some other crowd screams. The truth is obvious! Can't you see? The butler is an ALIEN! He abducted Mr. Wayne and offered him as a sacrifice to his planet and race! It wouldn't be a surprise if the butler will disappear soon too!

Ha! An alien, you say? Another mob challenges. You might as well call him a witch! A male one! He killed Mr. Wayne so he could gain his youth and wealth! We wouldn't be surprised if he starts to look much younger than he is now!

And so, many stories varying in its exaggerations spread among the people, all of them different from each other, all of them blaming one person.

Now, what does the 'culprit' to Mr. Wayne's mysterious disappearance say to these hypothesises?

It's always the butler, Alfred thought a little bitterly as he faced an army of journalists and cameras alone in front of a supermarket; grocery bags hanging in his hands, always blame the butler. Aloud, he simply said: "Mr. Wayne is away to study. He wants to broaden his knowledge in business so he could take his company to- I quote- 'great new heights'."

He left it at that.

Amazingly, the people were somewhat satisfied with that statement and the stories quelled down a bit.

Until the butler disappeared a year later after Bruce's first year of absence, very much like how his master vanished. That threw the public for a loop, and the stories were revived with renewed vigour and more fire. It was absolute chaos.

(The butler is an ALIEN! We're telling you, he is! A particular group of people screamed. Their statement went ignored by the general population.)

But then the butler re- appeared after 3 months of disappearance, looking very much younger. As if a few years magically disappeared off his whole demeanour.

(He's a witch! A male one! A particular crew screamed. Seize him! Burn him at the stakes! Their accusations went ignored too.)

Somehow, the mass caught the poor butler out for shopping once again, and they questioned him as if singing an off-key nursery rhyme:

"Mister Butler, mister butler where have you been?"

"I've been off to somewhere to look after my King."

"Oh butler, oh butler what did you do there?"

Oh, enough of this, Alfred thought, internally grimacing. "My master is feeling under the weather. I went away for a while to take care for him."

"He was sick?!" The crowd cried, worried.

"Very." Alfred replies gravely. "There's no more need to worry though, he's perfectly fine now."

The butler left, but not until the people saw a suspiciously bright smile on the butler's face as if remembering something pleasant.

(He's a witch! You saw that, right? A particular group insists. He probably performed a ritual on Mr. Wayne so he could take his youth! In went without saying, that this group were completely ignored once again.)

Ah, the people muse, completely believing in the butler. He's just a really faithful butler. The stories died down completely after that, like it never happened in the first place. The people continued on with their lives, only occasionally wondering how the young billionaire is doing in the back of their minds.

For a time, there was peace.

Seven years later, Bruce Wayne re- appeared in public.

His sudden disappearance was already a big surprise, apparently though; his just as sudden re- appearance is a much bigger surprise.

…but perhaps, the biggest surprise after all, was the child that Bruce Wayne is carrying in his arms. The fact that he's carrying a child isn't the surprise; Bruce Wayne is known to be fond of kids after all, he loves to donate in orphanages and offer scholarships.

The surprise is the fact that was glaringly obvious at them: the child looks like Mr. Wayne. Too much like him. Unnervingly so.

The people's surprise grew due to another fact: Bruce Wayne admitted that the child is his. Biologically. The child's name is Richard Thomas Wayne. He's Mr. Wayne's.

Stories instantly sprouted in the people's mind and flew out of their mouths. All of them varying in their exaggerations, all of them different from each other, all of them asking the same questions: What exactly happened to Mr. Wayne in his 7 years of disappearance? How come he had a child? And…

Who is the mother?

Thus, the world was in absolute chaos once again.


Present time

Bruce looked up from his work as Alfred walked in with a silver tray containing his favourite tea.

"It is time for a break, sir." Alfred said lightly, though Bruce didn't miss the underlying stern tone in his voice. "You had been working for hours on end."

Bruce smiles bemusedly. "Thank you, Alfred. Why don't you join me?"

"I fully intend to do so, sir." Alfred replies as he hands Bruce his cup. "Even without your invitation."

An elegant brow rose to Bruce's forehead in amusement as he takes a slow sip from his tea. Hmm, Alfred really knows how to blends his tea. "Among all the issues I've been 'escaping', which ones do you want to talk about? The more pressing ones, I presume."

"Actually," the butler said as he settled in the arm chair across Bruce's desk. "I want to discuss all of them."

"Oh," the twenty- seven year old billionaire winced. "All of them? Why?"

"You've been neglecting to face them for a month now."

"But Alfred," the billionaire refused to acknowledge that his tone came close to whining; Gods, Dick is rubbing off on me, "I've only been back for a month-"

"And a half." Alfred oh- so helpfully corrects.

Bruce suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "And a half." He amends in the end anyway, there's no use fighting Alfred (because there's no winning against him). "I can't possibly deal with all of them instantly."

It was Alfred's turn to raise an elegant eyebrow at his Master. "We both know that we're not talking about the issues at your work. Besides," at this, the butler glance meaningfully at the stack of papers on the left side of Bruce's desk and on the floor which was a significantly larger pile compared to those meager ones on the other side, "I believe you're almost done with them."

Nothing can really escape Alfred, Bruce thought wryly. He heaved a sigh and frowns at his butler. "What else do the people want to know? You and I already told them that I went abroad to study, we also vaguely mentioned it's somewhere in Europe."

"The people are long past that issue."

"Exactly. What else do they want from me?" Bruce asks as he leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. "What happened in Europe? I studied. What else do they expect from studying abroad?"

"Oh, I don't know," Alfred says slowly in the most sardonic tone he would ever allow himself to use, "perhaps impregnating someone and bringing back a child that looks like him that it is undeniably his without a single clue to who his-"

"Stop."

The words 'impregnating someone' brought a bitter taste to Bruce's mouth, he could think of only one person who does exactly that. The butler promptly shuts his mouth and looks expectantly at his brooding Master.

"Stop, Alfred." Bruce exhales heavily. "If the people want to know more about Dick's origins then they aren't getting any. I already admitted that Dick is mine, and I already told them multiple times that the identity of the mother will never be revealed no matter how much they persist. It will never happen. What happened for these past seven years will remain a secret among us."

Alfred grimaces inwardly; he already knew all of these. "The people won't be satisfied leaving it like that. They will continue to wonder who Master Dick's mother is, and as long as he lives in this mansion and carries your name and blood, his life won't be completely hidden from the public."

"I'll be damned if I wouldn't try to give my son a sense of normal life." Bruce stubbornly replied. "Besides, the people aren't really interested in a businessman's personal life. They'll forget about this issue soon enough and will only be brought up again occasionally sometime in the future, but not as big as this first time."

Alfred couldn't help but agree to that. But then again, the butler also knows that Bruce might just be a businessman, but to the populace he might as well be the hottest celebrity of the year- always. Bruce isn't an actor but millions of people across the world go gaga over his looks alone, and this happens even though he doesn't appear much on television. Heck, he even surpasses most celebrities when it comes to survey about looks. That's why people always want to know what's going on with Bruce's life.

Seriously though, Alfred thought, people need to get their own lives together and leave other people's private lives out of their minds.

Bruce is still sulking, Alfred notes amusedly. Dick is really a sensitive issue for him. He never thought he'll see the man sulks again ever since his parents died. When Thomas and Martha died, Bruce was forced to grow up very fast. He had never seen Bruce threw a fit, sulk or cry again since they buried his parents. It was like a switch was turned off to erase any childish attributes a child like Bruce should have and be replaced with something only a jaded grown up man should be. It was a great lost, Alfred remembers sourly. Thank God for miracles though and He gave us Dick, I can see Bruce loosening up. It's almost like I'm seeing him grow up once again, to a better him and a brighter future.

When Alfred emerges out of his thoughts, Bruce is still not looking at him so he finally decided to change the topic. There's no point arguing over something they both agreed on. "So, how's Miss Diana doing?"

Bruce blinks slowly at him, as if mulling over the words that had come out from his mouth. "Ah, Diana," he says slowly, "She's doing well, I suppose. She said she'll visit whenever she had the time or when her missions brought her near here."

"Have you two patched up?"

Bruce smiles tightly. "Yes, I believe so."

Before Alfred could inquire further, Bruce beats him by asking another question. "How are the papers I asked Mare about? Is it going well?"

Alfred produced an envelope out of nowhere and handed it to Bruce. "It's done, and that came with a message. Mayor Grange said that you're lucky she's the mayor of this 'freaking' city because it isn't easy to produce a birth certificate for someone who was born in an 'under the radar' island, and that you'll have to tell her everything in the upcoming charity event or else she'll personally maul you and ditch you somewhere so you'll disappear without a trace again."

Bruce merely sips his tea, far too used to his friend's threats. "Send her a letter of thanks for me, alongside with that favourite cake of hers."

Alfred raised his elegant eyebrow again. "Are you, perhaps, bribing the mayor of Gotham City?"

"Are you, perhaps, questioning your Master's motives?"

Alfred shrugs and sips his own tea. "It shall be done."

"…As for the media," Bruce starts slowly, "Just keep on ignoring them like always, I've already answered enough questions."

Alfred sighs heavily but nods nonetheless. "As you wish, but just so you know, stories and conjectures will come up as long as their curiosity isn't satisfied."

Bruce smirks wickedly at his butler. "Yeah, maybe this time they'll say that Dick has an alien or witch blood in him."

Alfred glares back at him. "That's not even funny, sir."

"Ah, ah," Bruce tsks teasingly. "Stop frowning, you wouldn't want to perform another ritual to look younger do you?"

Alfred put down his tea cup and huffed at his Master. "Of all the stories that went around, that's what you'll take notice?"

"It was funny." Bruce defends himself, still with that wicked smirk. "And the most fanatic ones, if I say so."

"It was the most ridiculous ones." Alfred replies hotly.

"DADDY!"

The two men looks at the door as it bursts open and a blur of blue and black came running in. Bruce immediately opens his arms, not at all surprised when someone crashes into them.

"Daddy!" Dick exclaims, bright blue eyes sparkling in joy and excitement. "I've finished my trigonometry problems! Can we play now? You promised!"

"All one hundred of them?"

"YES!" Dick squeals, almost shoving a paper in his Dad's face. "See? See?! Can we play now? Please, please, please~! Let's play~! You promised you would!"

Bruce glances at the fifty or so papers left on his 'thing to- do' side and didn't even have any second thoughts that he can finish it later this evening. He grins down at his son in his arms. "I did, didn't I?"

He scooped Dick high into the air and then back to his arms, eliciting loud peals of laughter from the happy child. "What do you want to do, chum?" Bruce asks, while tickling his son.

"Daaaad~" Dick whines through his laughter, "s- stop it! I want t-to race you in a car game!"

"Oho~" Bruce eyes his baby boy teasingly and pinches one of his cheeks. "You think you have what it takes to beat me?"

Dick pouts at his father; his pinking lips jutting out adorably, his cheeks gains a flush-y red colour and his blue eyes glistens in indignation. "Of course I do! I'm gonna beat you this time!"

Alfred starts to put away their tea and smiles at the scene in front of him. These past few days he found himself getting harder and harder to remember what Bruce was like before Dick arrived in their lives. It seems like a lifetime ago where Bruce all did was brood and grunt like a gung- ho suicidal man, he didn't even hear the man laugh nor see him smile for real in years. Now, Bruce do it all the time that Alfred feels like he's been woken up from a very long nightmare and was only now living a beautiful dream. Such wonders a child could bring, he thought fondly as he gazes at his charges.

Bruce had now set Dick down on his feet and was chasing him around the room, screaming about 'an rrogant little prince getting chased down by dragon'. Briefly, he thought of stopping them and reprimands them not to run in a room. But they look like they were having so much fun together that Alfred couldn't bring himself to do it.

CRASH!

Bruce and Dick winced and stopped running around to look down at the mess they made and up to Alfred guiltily. The sound of breaking china still reverberating throughout the room…

Alfred stared at them impassively for a moment before stating. "That was your mother's 2nd favourite tea set."


A/N: Wow, I didn't know I'll be able to garner more followers and favourites with the re- written version~ thanks for the support! If you could kindly put some reviews too, that will be great! And I was able to update too! Thank God for small mercies! I hope I could re- write Chapter 3 soon enough and have a chance to upload it!