Alfred Pennyworth remembers, when Thomas and Martha Wayne had been his employers. And a dark-haired little boy.
Happy days, that.
And then he remembers Dick Greyson, who seems to have quite gotten over the more then just a little suspicious death of his circus performer parents, and seems to be quite willing to such off the Wayne tit for ever and ever, never mind that he isn't even a relative, and yes Alfred knows that the money for Dick's education and living expenses really aren't all that much, just a fraction of Master Bruce's daily allowance really, even before Master Bruce makes that face at him again... And Master Bruce has made it quite clear that he means to offer Dick a job at one of his companies anyway if he doesn't have anything he particularly wants to do, and he doesn't seem to, either.
And yes, he's quite aware that Dick Greyson actually seems to get decent grades at that University he goes too, thank you very much.
Little Tim comes up to him, then, and Alfred feels a bit better. Poor Tim Drake, who'd been looking so forlorn when Alfred first saw him - Just like Master Bruce had, once upon a time...
Except Tim did have parents, of course. Who weren't too bad, all things considering. ...Not bad enough as an excuse to make Tim Master Bruce's ward for real, anyhow.
Alfred sighed, then. Tim was a bit - emotional, sometimes, he did know that, and his parents probably did have a hard time dealing with him, sometimes. All he could hope was that the boy would outgrow it, someday... Though the excersise regimes Alfred had been putting him through - or rather, doing with him - did seem to be helping, at least a little.
Alfred sighs, then, and serves tea for Tim and himself. A real English tea, with plenty of things to nibble on.
And then he remembers Jason Todd, who he had had tea with once upon a time - it seemed like a long time ago, for some reason - and he growled deep inside his throat.
Jason Todd had been - for lack of another way of putting it - a disaster. In life, and in death.
If only Master Bruce hadn't - taken to the boy so quickly... No. Maybe that wasn't the right word. "Spoiled" wasn't it, either.
And then Alfred Pennyworth remembered a certain Alexander Joeseph Luthor, and sighed again.
He should have considered the fact that Master Bruce actually did have some familiarity with criminal types. Master Bruce's "management" of the boy had actually been working quite well, till -
Ahh, well. It couldn't be helped.
Not now.
...Jason Todd was dead, and he had died trying to protect his mother. Nothing could change that, any more.
At all.
"Hey, Mr Wayne - Bruce! Isn't that Alfred and Tim? I thought they were going out for the day!"
Maria jumped up and down, trying to see more. Brandon followed her example, while Harry just sighed, shaking his head.
"He must have changed his schedule, I suppose... Now wait a minute, children, I just have to finish this up..."
Bruce mumbled, tapping on his laptop.
"What're you doing, Mr - um, Bruce?"
" - Checking up different heathcare systems in different countries. My friend Lex wanted to know what I think about...Hmmmm."
"...Oh." Brandon mumbled.
"But America's the best, isn't it?"
"In some ways, if you have enough money, but if you don't - well, let's just say Alfred likes England's national healthcare system better, one the whole, even if it has it's problems. Each countury's system is different, with good points and bad points, you see..."
"...Oh."
Bruce kept tapping. It was a nice breezy day, in early spring...
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(Posted Thu, 04 May 2006 12:26)
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