"BRUCE! So good to see you again! How are you? Didn't I see a beautiful blonde on your arm last time I saw you? Where is she man?"

"Bruce, you must speak with the Senator, he is such a conversationalist. Very interesting, you'd like him."

"Bruce, I know you like cars, with your collection and all. We must talk sometime about the new Bentleys being release. You have preordered one right? Course you have, gotta keep up with the times."

He hated this. Absolutely despised it, if there was anything he could do to get out of it he would. Sometimes it was fun. He knew they were human but he never thought humans were this manipulative.

"Bruce, I just saw Justine, the Mycroft heiress, she's very lovely. Spending this summer in the upper Gotham penthouses, you should introduce yourself."

"My dear lady, and here I thought you were the loveliest lady in the room."

"Oh, you're such a tease."

"Never, I only speak the truth. But I would never deny you the opportunity to introduce me to Miss Justine."

"Yes, she really is a lovely girl, such poise. It really is hard to find a girl with admirable qualities these days. Horribly depressing we live in such uncivilized times."

"You are so right, terrible, absolutely terrible."

"It's the public school systems; don't teach anything of use these days. Most of the populace can barely read, can you believe it? I wish there was something to be done. Ah! There she is. Miss Justine!" An angelic blonde turned around to face them. Her eyes twinkled and there was a faint blush as she moved towards them. "Miss Justine, this is Bruce Wayne, Bruce, Justine."

"Hello," she said. There was a perfect balance of shyness and confidence in the way she carried herself and offered her hand.

Sigh, well this was really boring. He didn't remember what happened. Who flattered who first, what was said. It was a good thing he liked Alfred or he would never throw these parties. As it was, Alfred insisted on having one at least once a month. He was too nice really. This was really all his fault, he gave Alfred free rein over this part of his life. Alfred always had the best ideas how to act and spend his money like a billionaire playboy would. So he let him plan get togethers, parties, meetings, interviews, photo shoots, appearances. All he really had to do was act. He didn't like to brag or anything but he was very good at it. The flatteries and pleasantries came with no effort and he could disconnect himself from the situation, no problem. It was a good thing he could though, he wouldn't be mentally able to put up with these people if he couldn't disconnect himself from their nonsense chitter chatter. Meet this person Bruce, we must talk sometime Bruce, look at these investments Bruce, blah blah blah, GOD! It was enough to drive him mad. Another point, who were these people who thought they could call him by his first name. He didn't know any of these people. Really. He could have spoken to them over a dozen times and it didn't matter. All they wanted was his money, time, interest, or name. He wished there was someone richer than him, maybe then he wouldn't be the flavor of the month anymore. Month, ha, year actually. God, he missed prison.

He needed to clear his mind. Being cynical never helped anyone. He took a deep breath, letting it empty his brain of the dark thoughts. He liked to imagine his mind as a black cave. It was soothing. A faint whisper drifted through his thoughts. Rachel. The pain sling shotted him out of his peaceful trance and back to whatever conversation his auto pilot had gotten him into. Dammit.

"The organized crime syndicate was the only thing keeping the criminals of this town in check. The police can't handle it."

"The police just don't have the man power, if they did –'

"If they did we'd be paying twice as much and see no new improvements. Without the mobs influence, the cops aren't going to be getting any money on the side. Now who's going to stop the police from forming their own crime circles. Trust me, it's not going to be long before we see more stories about police brutality and cops pushing the justice system too far."

Ahhh, so they were talking about this again, how interesting. Something petted his arm. He looked down, then up. What was her name, Lydia? No, Jessica . . . Justine! She seemed to have slid her arm under his and he now seemed to be holding her arm. Standing in a wide circle around them were a few politicians and some other people he couldn't recognize.

"What do you think Bruce?" He looked back to the speaker. He couldn't remember his name.

"Weelll, I think the new commissioner, Gordon, right? Anyhow, he seems like a good guy. I bet with him in charge, the law enforcement of this city might have a good enough moral leader to set the police straight."

"We can only hope."

"He does seem reliable." There were nods of approval all around.

"We are putting a lot of trust in one person though, whether he can handle it is the question."

"Only time can answer that one."

"He can't do any worse, last year this city had the highest crime rate in the country. We can only get better."

"I think he'll do well, one of the first things he did as commissioner is get rid of that ridiculous light."

"The bat signal? Yeah, you can judge a cities education level by how ready they are to believe in stupid superstitions."

"Oh, he is real. Bruce was nice enough to invite him to the last party he hosted." A chuckle of laughter wound its way around the circle.

"He may be real but one man being able to protect an entire city is ridiculous, and look how it turned out."

"I always knew he was just a criminal."

"Not just a criminal but a psychopath. Dressing like that and running around, you can't be right in the head."

"Hit the nail on the head there. Still haven't made any arrests though have they."

"Guy was a deranged lunatic. Killing Harvey Dent and endangering half the city, I bet he was in league with the Joker the whole time."

There was some type of ringing in his ears and a tightness in his chest. What was this?

"They were the same type of criminal, no doubt about that."

The smooth grin that was naturally part of this guise faltered. Something stung in that sentence, what was it? The Joker's voice spoke up in his mind, "They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper!" His chest tightened again.

"The worst was how people idolized him, especially children. We shouldn't let our youth be sucked into this, we need to show them real leaders like Dent. I never thought Batman was good enough."

"You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be."

"What do you think Bruce?"

"Don't talk like one of them! You're not! Even if you'd like to be." The tightness was moving up his neck making it hard to breath. Holding together his facial muscles in the way they should be was becoming hard, near impossible.

"I'm sorry gentlemen, ladies, excuse me." He squeezed what's her face's hand and walked away. Nearing the door, his pace quickened. The drink in his hand splashed. He pushed past some hired servants bringing in trays of food. His footsteps pounded with his heartbeat."

"Master Wayne?"

Not now, God not now. Different things flew threw his mind. Images and words, none of it was important but the fact that he couldn't name the people or places bothered him. Whose mind was this, none of it mattered yet each of the pictures stung.

"Master Wayne!"

He turned down the last corridor, finally reaching his room. Why did he come here again? He heard Alfred come to a stop behind him.

"To them, you're just a freak, like me!"

Red covered his vision and he couldn't stop himself from throwing the glass against the wall. The crash brought his mind back to his surroundings. He looked at the glass against the wall, then turned to Alfred standing in the doorway.
"Is something wrong sir?"

Was something wrong? I suppose there must be, normal, healthy people don't break fine crystal against their wall. Sighing he sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands. "I don't know Alfred."

"Hmm, are you feeling unwell?"

"No . . . maybe."

"Sick?"

"No, I'm not sick."

"Something is troubling you then?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Ah! Well then, we'll just have to fix that."

The silence stretched on for a minute before he looked up to his butler. "I lost control Alfred. I'm always in control of myself but I just couldn't take it another minute. Something inside me, just couldn't take it another minute. I'm just . . . tired."

"Hmmm, I thought this might happen."

"Did you? Why didn't you tell me?"

"A butler wouldn't presume –"

"To hell with that Alfred and you know that—"

"Either way Master . . . maybe you need a break."

"From what, life? No Alfred, I'll be fine." He stood up and gave Alfred a smile, he had probably scared his poor friend enough today. "I'll just go back to the party. Must perform my host duties, right?"

"You don't have to Master."

"I know Alfred . . . but I can't stop now." He headed out the door with Alfred following, back the way he had come.

"I'll have someone bring you out a drink of water."

"Thank you Alfred."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It had taken a minute to walk through the crowd, saying a friendly hello to a few before walking on. Jessica had made a grab for his arm again but a polite excuse me had fended her off. He stood on the balcony with his promised glass of water. He saw that Alfred had given him one of the cheap glasses, his own little punishment for breaking one of Alfred's nice crystal stemware. Well really.

On the other side of the glass doors Alfred was talking to someone. Luckily Alfred had taken point in fending off people who wanted to talk to him. He didn't feel in the mood to put on fake pretenses. The door opened behind him and someone stepped through. He turned expecting Alfred but frowned in surprise at who stood before him.

"Mr. Wayne, I'd like to introduce Ciel Phantomhive. CEO of Dante Technology." The tall, dark man in front of him stepped aside, and if he thought he was surprised before then he was floored by who stood in front of him now.

Thanks for everyone who has been reading!

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