The Question

Kate glances down at Bruce with sympathetic eyes. The lengthy bout of lucidity had clearly strained the last Wayne, and she watches him as his chest rises and falls in his slumber. She brushed an idle lock of hair from his face, and said a silent prayer to the gaunt figure she'd met in a warehouse five years ago. You changed my life that day. Can you at least grant him some peace while he sleeps? This world is too dangerous for him.

After a few moments, Kate creeps silently away from Bruce's bed, opens the door, and slips out. Alfred is not far from the room, and she heads towards him. "He's asleep now, Alfred. He was better than I remember him. I hope he'll still be in a good mood when he awakens."

Goodbyes with Alfred were always strange - she'd once tried to give him a friendly hug as she left, but it made the both of them feel incredibly awkward. The old man deserved better - rest for his years of service, or at the very least transfer to a manor that wasn't slowly eroding. But he was too loyal to the Wayne family, she knew. He would die in Wayne Manor before he stopped serving Bruce. And what then, Bruce? What happens to you then?