Wax Figurine | T. Drake ✔

[13]

Richard was exhausted.

Being Batman was no easy task and the burden was now doubled on him. It had been a long time since he had visited Bludhaven too and he knew that city would be falling to shambles as well without him. But he couldn't leave Gotham right then as things were just starting to come under control.

With the patrols wearing him down as well as his job to handle at the GCPD, he was getting quite tired. And then there was the uncertainty of when Bruce would come back to them because according to Tim he was very much alive and they had found somewhat proof in the form of his tracker.

He was fastening the buttons of his shirt as he was getting dressed to go to work. He turned to see Barbara who was just as exhausted and had fallen asleep after being completely worn out.

Wearing his jacket, he bent down to gently kiss her forehead, making sure not to disturb her sleep then stepped out of his room.

However, as he shut the door behind him, he was surprised to see Tim standing outside.

He paused, not knowing why the boy had come up to his room but then spoke up, "hey, have you had breakfast? Come, let's go down together."

Ever since Tim had quit patrol after Richard had taken up the mantle, there was a slight strain between them. And the main reason for it was that despite Richard's efforts of reaching out to him, Tim unknowingly shut people out whenever he was going through too much.

But seeing Richard still make an effort made Tim feel more guilty that he had been shutting him out.

"Everything okay, kiddo?" Richard asked again, concern lacing his tone as he took in the crestfallen look on the boy's face.

"I'm sorry," Tim spoke up, closing the gap between them as he hugged him tightly.

The elder had not been expecting that but he was quick to return the hug, a sigh of relief resonating within him. He held the boy close, gently ruffling his head as he could feel that he would break down any second.

"It's okay, Timmy, I am not angry at you or anything for you to apologize."

"But you should be angry. I've been a dick to you," he mumbled, "no pun intended."

Richard smiled, "no, you haven't. We all know you were going through just as hard a time as all of us, probably more. I did not take any of your words to heart, we're good."

"Thank you," he let go of him, blue eyes glistening in relief, "sorry I probably got you late, you were going to get breakfast and I..."

"It's okay, the Commissioner would understand if I turned up a little late today," Richard remarked, "come, let's have breakfast together."

They went down to the kitchen for breakfast and as it was early, only Alfred was up. Seeing the two of them come together made Alfred realize that they had sorted things out which was quite a relief to know.

So he laid out breakfast for Tim too, telling him to sit down.

"Alfred, I kinda want to talk to both of you," Tim spoke up just as Alfred was about to leave, "it's about Bruce."

Tim had hesitated slightly, feeling that their reaction could not be what he would want. But both of them were listening closely to him.

"I met him," he added, "he really is staying at Olivia's place."

Richard looked surprised, "but he could have contacted us..."

"Exactly," Tim nodded, "that was what I asked first of all too."

"Then?"

Tim recounted his visit to Olivia's place and his meet-up with Bruce to both the men listening closely. "I persuaded him to talk to us on call and tell us exactly why he's staying away and maybe he will call today. I had to let you know."

There was a while of silence and Tim stared down at his food, hesitant to take a bite just yet. But Richard's hand gently patted his shoulder and he turned to look at him.

"Excellent work, Tim," he remarked warmly, "I'm sorry we didn't believe in you earlier but you have solved the greatest problem we had right now."

"Master Richard and Master Tim, now that everything is sorted, you two must finish your breakfast," Alfred added.

"Of course. Thanks, Alfred."

***

Bruce was doing much better than earlier as by then he was able to walk without crutches and was regaining his strength. At that rate, he would completely recover very soon, making him able to return to Gotham and take over the mantle from Richard.

Right then, he had asked Olivia to lend him her computer so that he could talk to his family as he had promised Tim to do so.

"Are you sure this would work?" Olivia asked, looking over at Bruce who was trying to establish a connection to the Batcomputer using her personal computer.

"It should," he replied, typing in the required address and then waiting for the connecting signal.

"They will block you out if they are any wise," she remarked but then saw that didn't happen, "how can your Batcomputer receive transmitting signals from just any device out there and not risk getting hacked? You know what, I could hack your system in a minute if I wanted to."

"You will do nothing of the sort," he warned her, realizing that he had been subconsciously acting a lot like a parent towards her. Besides she was no different than a very troublesome child who needed someone to constantly make sure she didn't cause any trouble. "And it's the Batcomputer, you won't be able to hack into it."

"Why? Has Techy Timberly put up some advanced firewalls around it?" Her eyes skimmed the digits popping up on the screen as she clicked the mouse, "oh shit, he has..."

"Olivia, let me do this," he spoke up, taking the mouse from her, "I appreciate all your help but I will appreciate more if you don't interfere right now."

She got silent for a while and he paused, feeling that he had hurt her feelings by the look that had formed on her face.

But then she spoke up immediately, "oh, of course, no worries. Have your family time, I won't intrude. I will just be outside."

"You can stay," he remarked in a slightly softer tone than usual.

"No thanks, Timmy will go haywire if he saw me again," she stepped out of the laboratory, "and don't look into anything else on my PC, okay, you will be embarrassed."

Leaving Bruce to try and contact his family, she came to the living space of the bio-dome, dropping down on the couch. She knew Bruce had recovered sufficiently by then and it was only a matter of time before he would leave.

But in the few days he had been there, she hadn't minded his company at all. In fact, it felt better to talk her heart out to someone who actually listened rather than Vanya who was just an automated software.

True, he seldom replied and was always very silent, almost as if he wasn't there. But just having someone else other than her own self in that place reminded her of how it had felt back when she lived with her parents.

And it made her long for them so she forcefully shut those memories out, knowing they will never be able to come back.

A part of her didn't want Bruce to leave either but then she also knew how hard it was to live without family members, she kinda felt bad for Tim and the others. And it was surprising to her because she had never had those feelings before.

In her own words, she wasn't kind or sympathetic. She only ever put herself first rather than thinking about others.

Yet that chance encounter with Batman had supposedly made her question a lot about herself as well.

"Just let me know when you're done, okay," she called out, knowing Bruce would be able to hear her, "I have finally thought what I'd like in compensation for letting you stay here for free. No negotiations."

As usual, she wasn't met with any reply but she knew Bruce would definitely ask her about it later. 

***