Espera | R. Grayson ✔

[29]

Bruce was shaken terribly, to say the least.

His parents had been attacked and nearly died though a mysterious man in black had stepped in and fought off the attacker instead. He had heard about Gotham's mysterious protector but never once paid enough heed to it.

However, right then he owed his parents' life to that vigilante, regardless of who he was or why he was there at that moment.

His parents were back home and were safe, all due to that person. All due to a man concealing his real identity and going out of his way to help the civilians.

In a sense, he was doing the police's job by handling the criminals and making sure the innocent people didn't come to any harm. And so far, he was doing an excellent job at it.

But what Bruce couldn't understand was why that person felt the need to take such a huge risk for his own self by baring himself to all the dangers the city had in store just so other people could be safe.

As far as he knew, Thomas and Martha Wayne would have been no mare than strangers to that mysterious person and yet he chose to risk his life and fight off the intruder.

He was definitely not doing it for fame, Bruce realized that very well, because even though the Batman had been all over in the media, never once had he personally showed up to talk to the press and embrace the limelight being showered upon him.

Then what exactly were his reasons to do what he had been doing since the past few months?

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a knock on the study's door. He looked up, noticing the time and got up from his armchair to open the door.

He was surprised to see Lavina.

"I came as soon as I heard," she spoke up, dark eyes glimmering with concern, "how are your parents? I hope they didn't get hurt."

"They are fine now," he replied stepping out behind her, "do you want to meet them?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "and what about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm just... A little stressed, I think," he took in a deep breath, pausing before the hallway to the wing of the Manor where his parents' rooms were located, "I don't want to think about it but if he wasn't there in time, I could have lost them."

"He?" She raised an eyebrow quizzically, "you mean Batman?"

"Yes."

An unfathomable look crossed her features but she didn't ask further. They had reached Martha's room and Bruce knocked gently.

The door opened shortly after and Martha was delighted to see Lavina, "oh darling, I am so happy you showed up. Come in, sit down."

A soft smile creased Lavina's lips as she gently took Martha's hands in her own, "I heard about last night. And I had to pay a visit to make sure you were alright."

"Ah that's so sweet of you," her pale blue eyes crinkled with joy, "I'm absolutely alright. And so is Thomas. But don't leave too soon, will you? We would love if you stay with us longer."

She thought for a while then her smile widened, "actually, I don't have much planned for today so of course I can stay."

"Perfect," she turned to look at Bruce, "do you want to join us too?"

He looked shaken out of his thoughts again and shrugged, "I would but there's a meeting I have to attend..."

"Ah it's alright then. Just me and Lavina, right darling?"

"I would love that even more," Lavina smiled at Bruce and waved slightly, "enjoy your meeting."

He managed a small smile before leaving the two of them together. Lavina was a very different person around Martha and in fact Bruce couldn't help but notice that the woman adapted very well to her surroundings.

At work, she was intimidating. Scary even as she got her own way with everything. With family, she was bright and cheerful. With him, she was...

She was everything he had ever dreamt for in a partner.

But still a lot of things about her didn't add up and he had a feeling that if he kept looking too closely, it would deprive him of what he had at the moment.

His thoughts flickered back towards Batman as he flicked through the newsfeed on his phone where most of the articles were about the masked vigilante. There was no clue who he was, what he did other than his nightly patrol duties, or where he had even come from.

Nothing.

It was just like he had appeared one night, then decided to stay and keep watch over the city.

But no matter who he was or what reason he had for doing all he did, Bruce felt grateful to him.

In fact, he wanted to meet him and thank him in person if he could.

***

Tim's idea of visiting Drake Corporate did not backfire at all.

In fact, the partners were willing to have him on board, even telling him that his father would be proud to see him taking care of the family business in such trialing times.

However, Tim felt as if it was still a lot of expectations that were due from him and he would have to strive to reach them all.

He sat in the garden by himself, looking wistfully at the tree he used to climb to get over the fence of the Drake Mansion and escape into the city. But with the tightened security around his home, he could no longer do it.

He held a rubix cube in his hands that he was absentmindedly playing with, his fingers fixing then messing it up multiple times. He had no idea how long he had been outside though he was full aware that he wasn't alone.

In fact, he had never gotten to be fully alone ever since his parents got murdered.

A flash of red caught his eye and he looked up to see Barbara standing by the bench he was sitting on. He had automatically shifted to his left to make some space for her and she sat down soon after.

She was mostly the officer looking after him because it was quite evident that he was more at ease with her than with the others so the Commissioner had assigned her to check up on Tim regularly.

"Do you want to go outside?" She asked, looking at the tree he had been staring so wistfully at.

"Yes."

"I could take you to the park tomorrow," she offered, "or maybe to your favorite café. I heard they're adding sweets to the menu too. Jay loves to go there as much as he can."

A soft sigh escaped him, "sounds tempting but probably not tomorrow. I have to be at a meeting. Mister Sanders said it's urgent."

"Oh, maybe in the evening then?"

He thought for a while then nodded, fixing up the rubix cube again, "I'll see."

"Is there something troubling you?" She asked cautiously, not knowing how he would react to the answer.

"No."

"You know you can trust me, right?"

He nodded, eyes dimming slightly, "I know and I appreciate it."

"Then whenever you want someone to talk to, keep in mind that Richard isn't the only friend you have," she smiled, patting his shoulder lightly, "I'll be here too."

"Thank you," he looked up at her and saw her smiling warmly at him but his own lips refused to turn up in a smile at that moment.

"You're always welcome, buddy."

***