So, third chapter. Nearly as long as the first one.
I'm afraid most people stopped reading after the first chapter (not only some, but nearly all of them, the drop in numbers was far more signficant than it had been with my other two stories) which is a real pity, but oh well. As long as there are a few left who like it and keep reading... I'll post it until the very end, that's for sure. For your orientation, it should be a total of eight chapters. So at the pace I'm updating, it should be finished around wednesday next week. I hope you stay with me, and, more important, like the story.
There's some fluff ahead :-)
The boy's reaction when they finally arrived at Wayne Manor was nearly non-existent and barely noticeable. Hadn't the butler been an excellent observer, he wouldn't have seen the slightly widened eyes or heard the low intake of air. But the astonishment only lasted for a second, before the boy withdrew back into himself again.
They got out of the car and Master Bruce walked over to Richard, kneeling before him once again.
„Shall I show you your room?" He only got a shrug in response. A sad expression crossed his face before he stood up again and started walking slowly towards the house, waiting for the boy to follow him. Behind them, Alfred carried the rucksack.
Neither the huge entrance hall nor any of the wide hallways made the boy lift his eyes from his walking feet and when they reached his room, he only stood in the doorframe, barely looking at what was his now.
„We hope you like the room. If you want to change or add anything, just tell Alfred or I and we'll do it." Master Bruce didn't give up on trying to get through to the boy, however with little success. Richard nodded the tiniest bit and walked over to his bed to sit on it. The butler followed and placed his belongings next to him, before turning for the door again. When he had nearly reached it, he looked back at the boy.
„Master Richard, do you have any preferences on what I shall prepare for dinner tonight?" He could see the child flinch at the odd address but the only answer he got was another shrug.
His employer was still standing in the middle of the room, thoughtfully looking at the boy. When the butler reached him, he broke loose and the two men left the room, leaving the door ajar. It was obvious that Master Richard didn't want any company.
Alfred went for the kitchen to prepare dinner, Master Bruce following behind. At first, neither of them spoke, both thinking about what they had just experienced. Only when the butler had finished collecting the ingredients for pancakes, the younger man broke the silence, a thoughtful tone to his voice.
„I wonder how long it will take the boy to get over what happened." Alfred looked up from the eggs he was just mixing together with flour and milk.
„Quite a while, I assume. With all due respect, you never fully accomplished it." It seemed as if Master Bruce wanted to argue with that but thought better of it after a few seconds.
„You're probably right", he sounded sad. „But the boy … He was so happy when I first met him, so energetic. I can't, I won't imagine him being withdrawn like this for the rest of his life."
„We will do everything in our power to prevent that", Alfred assured him.
Half an hour later, the pancakes lay in a steaming pile on a plate and the butler went to call for the boy. Master Bruce had left the kitchen twenty minutes ago and would now certainly be in his study. Since that lay on the way up to the bedrooms, he would notice it was time to eat by his butler walking by. The two men had lived together for so long, they hardly needed communication anymore.
Master Richard's door still stood ajar and apparently he hadn't moved at all. He sat on the bed, his rucksack seemingly untouched next to him, exactly as they had left him. Alfred took a second to pity the boy. He looked so miserable, it was hard not to just walk over and try to comfort him. But he knew, it would do no good, the child only would recoil and withdraw even further. It almost hurt him physically to see such a young person suffer so much. It was the same as it had been with Master Bruce back in the day, when Dr. and Mrs. Wayne had been shot. What was it, that Alfred kept getting involved with children whose parents had died right in front of them? Like he was a magnet for other people's misery. He shook his head inwardly before getting back to his original task.
„Master Richard, I made pancakes. Would you care to come down with me and eat some dinner?" He smiled at the boy who silently got up and walked over to him, without looking him in the eye or answering directly. It really would take a while to make him unbend.
The meal was a silent affair, as the boy didn't say anything and Master Bruce gave up on trying to start a conversation after his first three attempts had failed.
When they had finished, Master Richard got up.
„Shall I walk you up to your room?", his new guardian offered. The boy shook his head.
„Good night", he said in such a low voice, it was hard to make out the words, despite both employer and employee having excellently trained ears.
„Good night", the men answered in unison.
The boy left the kitchen and they heard his feet tap on the floorboards and up the stairs.
It was later that evening, only minutes before Master Bruce was about to leave for the cave to turn into Batman, when an indefinable noise could be heard. Alfred was just walking by the bedroom corridor and listened closer, trying to find out what it was. Maybe he accidentally had left a window open and there was a draught somewhere. He heard it again and moved closer, still trying to define what it was. When he entered the hallway, Master Bruce came out of his bedroom where he had been preparing to leave.
There it was again. It sounded like … like a stifled sob. Master Richard! The two of them realised it in the same instant and synchronously started moving towards the boy's door. It was closed. Should they open it? They didn't know whether the boy was awake or crying in his sleep and he probably didn't want to be seen being in tears by some strangers. While they stood in the hallway, indecisive what to do, the sound changed. It grew louder and they could hear frantic movement. They looked at each other, trying to decide what was best, when suddenly the boy screamed.
Master Bruce burst through the door instinctively but stopped dead as soon as he had entered. Alfred glanced into the room, trying to make out what had made his employer hesitate. If the content hadn't been so sad, he had smiled at the picture before him.
Master Richard wasn't lying in his bed. He had moved with his blanket and pillow to the floor directly beneath the window, apparently feeling uncomfortable on the huge mattress. Come to think of it, it had been to be expected. After all, the boy had lived in a caravan for most of his life, so this room had to feel like a saloon to him, the furniture being twice as big as he was used to, at least.
The boy was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. The blanket was tightly wrapped around him, due to his panicked movements, but he thrashed around nevertheless. Tears were streaking down his face and he muttered unintelligible words.
Alfred could feel his heart sink at the sight. He had hardly ever felt such strong compassion before. He wanted to move over there and calm the boy down, but he knew, this was not up to him. So he stood in the doorframe while Master Bruce hurried over to the makeshift bed. The younger man laid a hand on the boy's shoulder.
„Richard. Wake up. Wake up, it's only a dream." His soothing tone didn't get through. The boy only got more frantic, now shouting for his parents.
„Mom, no! No, don't! Stay with me, please! Stay! Don't leave me! Dad! No!" It became harder to bear every second and Alfred could see the same compassion he felt on Master Bruce's face. He knew, the younger man could feel with the boy. Although it had became less often over the years, in some nights, Alfred could still hear him scream before he woke from a nightmare. Certainly, watching the boy suffer the same he did made it even harder for him than it was for Alfred. And the butler was barely able to stand it so it had to be pure hell for the other one.
When the boy screamed again, Master Bruce shook him carefully but determined.
„Richard, you have to wake up. Richard!" His slightly raised voice finally managed to pull the child back up. The boy suddenly breathed in deeply and his eyes fluttered open. As soon as he sensed someone being in front of him, he put his arms around Master Bruce's body and clung to him, burying his face in the man's shirt. He was still crying and shaking but considerably calmer than mere seconds ago.
It took Master Bruce a moment to get over the shock of having someone hug him, but after he overcame it, he put his arms around the boy and held him close, stroking his hair with one hand.
„It's alright, Richard. It's alright, it's alright. Calm down, it was only a dream." Alfred was sure, he would never forget the image of the tall, muscular man sitting on the floor, comforting a small boy he barely knew. It was one of the most touching things he had seen in his life.
The butler was just about to leave so Master Richard wouldn't feel like his privacy was invaded even more, when the boy suddenly backed away from his guardian. Apparently, it had taken him until now to gain full consciousness and comprehend the situation. As soon as he realised what he was doing, he pulled up his blanket and crouched to the wall behind him, as far away from Master Bruce as possible. He didn't look at the man, only tried to wipe the tears from his face, as if he could hide what had happened and by that make the two men in his room forget about it.
Master Bruce silently got up and left the room, Alfred following him and closing the door behind them. It would do no good to try talking to the boy now, they would have to wait until he opened up to them by himself.
As his employer wordlessly walked away, the butler couldn't help but follow him with his eyes, thinking that apparently Master Bruce was very well capable of bonding to someone. Far more than either of them had thought possible. Maybe, just maybe, taking the boy in had been the best decision in years after all.
When Alfred looked at the newspapers the next morning, he was tempted to just drop them in the bin. He didn't want Master Bruce to read the headline, it would only cause him to get angry about the media again. But he knew, there was no way his employer wouldn't get a glimpse on the Gotham Gazette (and probably every other paper) today. So trying to hide it would be of no use.
The butler shook his head at the lurid headline. „Brucie's Charity Case", followed by a side-long article, speculating who the boy was Bruce Wayne had been seen with outside the orphanage and why he had taken him with him. It concluded with the assumption that it was an adoption to place the CEO with the playboy image in a better light.
Alfred hated it, when his employer was depicted as such a superficial man. No one really knew him, no one appreciated what he did for the people in this city with his donations and the Wayne Foundation. Even as Batman he was eyed with suspicion, the name Dark Knight always used with fear instead of gratitude. If it hadn't been for the butler's British indulgence, he probably would have spoken up long ago. At least to make people see how much of a real man Bruce Wayne was, although he'd never risk exposing his secret identity.
With is eyes angrily narrowed, the butler walked back up to the house, leaving the postbox at the entrance gate behind him. When he reached the kitchen again, he placed the newspaper next to his employers plate as usually and hoped, he wouldn't get too worked up about it.
Already hearing the younger man coming down the stairs, Alfred left for Master Richard's room to wake the boy.
„Good morning, Alfred", Master Bruce greeted him in the hallway.
„Good morning, sir", the butler responded. „Breakfast is already prepared, I will just get Master Richard to join us." His employer nodded and he left for the bedroom floor.
The butler reached the boy's door and knocked carefully. He didn't want to scare him. When there was no response, he knocked again. After a few seconds, he heard a low „Yes" and entered the room.
He didn't exactly know what he had expected, maybe for the boy to be partially asleep or at least for him still being on the floor. But no, Master Richard sat there, fully clothed, on a perfectly made bed. Again, it seemed like he tried to make them forget what had happened the night before.
The butler felt a stab when he realized how much the boy tried to keep his distance. How long would it take him to open up even a bit?
„I wish a good morning, Master Richard. Would you care to join Master Bruce for breakfast?"
The boy looked at him with a slightly frightened expression on his face, he obviously didn't want to repeat the silent meal from the evening before. But after a second, he got up nonetheless and followed Alfred down the hallways.
Reaching the kitchen, the butler found his employer reading the newspaper, his eyes fixed on the front page, frowning. He obviously was every bit as angry as expected. When he heard his butler approach, he lifted his gaze and looked at him.
„This… Alfred, have you…?" He didn't finish the question when he saw Master Richard entering, but Alfred gave him a small nod, confirming he had read the article and found it just as outrageous.
Master Bruce turned to the boy and smiled at him. „Good morning, Richard."
He didn't get an answer, but the boy walked over to where a second plate was placed on the table and shyly sat down.
Alfred knew, Master Richard didn't want to be addressed but his job forbade him not to offer every possibility.
„Would you like something apart from bred for breakfast? An egg, maybe, or pancakes?" Master Richard just shook his head a tiny little bit. It took several minutes before he finally grabbed a slice of toast and some marmalade, trying not to make a sound while slowly eating it. The two men looked at each other, concerned. What could they do to make it easier for the boy, to make him feel more comfortable? Or was waiting the only option?
„Would you like me to stay home today, Richard? We could do something together. I can show you the Manor's grounds and the forest, if you like." Master Bruce tried to start a conversation after several minutes of silent eating. The boy didn't even look up, only shook his head. The man tried again. „Do you want to do something else? You just have to say it." Another shake of the head. „Shall I stay here just in case?"
The persistence of his employer told Alfred, how much he tried to be there for the boy. Usually, it took lethal injuries to keep the man away from his work.
But again, the boy declined the offer. Master Bruce sighed.
„Alright then. I'll be home as soon as possible."
After his employer had gone to work and only the butler and the boy were left in the kitchen, Alfred addressed the shy child.
„Do you feel inclined to explore the house today, Master Richard? With my assistance or without?" Since he hadn't expected a positive answer, he wasn't surprised when he earned a shake of the small head opposite him. „And do you prefer something for lunch?"
He was actually startled when the boy finally spoke. „No", came the low reply. „May I go now?" His eye still glued to the table, he waited for an answer. Alfred looked upon his employer's ward with compassion. This had to be overwhelming for him. Strangers as his new caretakers and a completely foreign environment which, in addition, differed as much from what he was used to as possible. Not only was Wayne Manor huge but also far less loud and crowded than the circus. Not to mention the different atmosphere. Light there, chastened here. The complete opposite.
„Of course you may, young sir." Alfred could see the relief in the boy's posture, as he stood up and went for the door. „I will call for you when lunch is prepared. If you need anything in the meantime, don't hesitate to call on me. I'll be either in the kitchen or the entrance hall. It needs to be dusted." With a slight nod, the boy vanished silently. Alfred listened after him but couldn't hear anything. He had to smile. Not only his employer managed to move without a sound throughout the house, but his ward did as well already. And the butler knew, it wasn't easy, with all those old floorboards.
The morning passed without anything special to happen, Alfred cleaned the kitchen and went for the entrance hall to eliminate every speck of dust he could find. When he was nearly finished, he felt someone looking at him. Apparently, Master Richard had left his room after all and given in to a natural curiosity. Not to scare the boy away, he pretended not to have noticed and kept swishing over the sideboards, but he moved and turned inconspicuously until he could see the doorway out of the corner of his eye. Master Richard was standing there, mostly hidden behind the wall and watched him. Another thing, guardian and ward had in common. When Master Bruce had been that age, it was a game to him. ‚Stalk Alfred and try not to get caught', he could spend hours doing that until the butler finally turned around all of a sudden and signalled he had seen the boy. Of course, this was not an option today. So he just finished his work and headed back for the kitchen to prepare lunch, giving the boy the opportunity to silently vanish again.
The pasta was nearly ready and he was about to get to the boy's room, when suddenly, Master Richard was standing next to the table, patiently waiting and nearly making the butler jump. Well, this time he hadn't even sensed the boy's presence, far from hearing it. Maybe Master Bruce could learn something from this child.
„I made spaghetti Bolognese, I hope you approve, young sir?" Was that a tiny smile accompanying the boy's nod? The butler did certainly hope so. It would be quite a bit of progress.
He served the meal and stood back again. „Bon appetite, Master Richard."
After several minutes, the boy slowly lifted his head and looked at the butler. „Would you.." he started in a low voice but left the sentence unfinished. His face turned red and he continued eating. Alfred smiled inwardly. Although it was sad, the boy was so shy and unhappy, it made him quite adorable. „Yes, Master Richard? What did you mean to ask?" he inquired friendly.
Still blushed, the boy tried again. „Would you… Could you maybe sit down with me? Please?" The last words were barely audible. The butler was taken by surprise. What an unusual request! But then again, probably most people weren't used to someone standing nearby doing nothing while they were eating. Normally, he would never have broken with the etiquette like that, but he was determined to make the boy feel as comfortable as under the circumstances possible, so…
„If you want me to. I assume, Master Bruce wouldn't object." Alfred slowly sat down. It was a curious feeling, he wasn't used to sitting at this table.
„Thank you", came the shy voice again.
The boy continued to eat and more than once he seemed to hesitate as if he was struggling with himself. Alfred couldn't help but get a bit curious and he would have liked to ask, although, as a butler, he was trained to stay back and keep silent. Over the last few years, he had become a bit sloppy on that account. Ever since Master Bruce had come up with the idea of being Batman, Alfred sometimes felt more like a nurse/coach/voice of reason and conscience than like a butler. Which meant he had to give up his distance inch by inch. Right when he had decided to ask, Master Richard worked up the courage to speak again.
„Why don't you eat?"
The butler was taken by surprise. „Excuse me, sir?"
His voice a little more confident, the boy clarified. „You don't eat with us. Why?"
„Oh, because I'm the butler. And a butler doesn't sit and eat with the family he serves."
Master Richard looked at him, disbelief in his eyes. „Why not? That's stupid."
Alfred frowned a little bit at the choice of words and instantly, the boy backpedalled and stared down at the table once more. „I'm sorry." His voice was very low again and he seemed shocked by his own bravery.
The butler felt pity and tried to comfort him. „Already forgiven and forgotten. I was just surprised, in this house, the tone usually is quite calm and very polite. I am not used to someone speaking his mind like this, least of all about upper class conventions", he explained friendly.
Nonetheless, the boy didn't talk again during the meal and afterwards left for his room without another word. Alfred only hoped he hadn't accidentally destroyed the progress made so far. If today's achievement was one step forwards, two steps backwards, he knew only he himself was to blame for it.
Somehow, the website keeps messing with my paragraphs, no matter what I try. I mean, I put this in between the lines when a part is over, and then he just deletes it. Why? It's not even something special, it could very well be part of my writing, it cant't just take it away o.O I hope, the lines I put in now stay. Otherwise it could get a bit confusing during the next chapters.
Oh, and I would be happy to see a review. Just so I know what you guys think about the story. If it's negative, fine, I want to hear it anyways (although obviously I'd prefer positive comments^^)