I Am The Night- Part Twenty One (Conclusion) by: Enemyoffun Bruce comes to a decision after his accident, beginning back where he started and possibly adding something new to the equation.

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Author's Note: Here is is at last, the final bit of I Am the Night. I want to thank everyone who had a hand in helping me write this...I think you all know who you are. Seeing as I started with the Bat I only felt it was fair to end with him too. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for their character.

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Epilogue:

“Miss Stephanie is on her way home sir,” said Alfred as he walked back into the room.

I smiled at him and nodded. Alfred didn’t smile back. I knew that look on his face, he was criticizing my actions. He’d been giving me that look every night since Stephanie came into my life. He thought I was being too standoffish, too secretive with her. He wasn’t far off. She was so much like her mother that it sometimes hurt to even look at her. Even when she was a guy in girls’ clothing, she looked like Crystal. Not that Stephanie was ever a boy. Now that she was physically a girl she had really blossomed, even Tim could attest to that. Before there was this unhappiness about her that seemed to bring the mood of everyone around her down with her. That sadness was gone now and in its place was a young woman that would have made her mother proud to see.

I sighed as I stood up from my chair. After agreeing to be my student, she and I talked for a few hours. I knew I was being selfish but I didn’t want her to go. Each night after work, ---before she got mad at me---I had a hard time letting her go. It broke my heart when she walked out of the room and went home. Especially when it was to that bastard. Every time she walked out that door, it was like her mother dying on me again. Even now, that’s all I could think about. When I closed my eyes, I could see Crystal’s smiling face and it hurt so much. It hurt as much as losing my parents. When Crystal died, the world fell apart. I felt horrible not being there for her daughter when she needed me, not being there when I should have been.

“Wallowing in the past again, sir?” asked Alfred.

I smiled. “You know me too well, old friend,” I said, looking down at the cane in my hands.

I tossed it aside and went back to my room. I stripped out of my pajamas and put on some normal clothes. I was tired of the pajamas. They were for Stephanie’s benefit not mine. I was still mending when she first walked through my door but just barely. In truth, I was about ninety percent but I kept up the charade so she would come every day. It was necessary to see if she was like I thought. I suspected there was something different about her mother after only a few times with her. She was the brightest, smartest person I ever met. It crushed me when she met Arthur. Arthur wasn’t good for her. He was only attracted to her looks, not her mind. Crystal had a great mind though. She could solve complicated math problems at the drop of a hat and the rate at which she could absorb information was phenomenal. Back then there was no such things as Metas---I didn’t actually hear the term until I was off on my own.

I met a man. He was rough and rugged on the outside but very fair. I trained with him for a few months. I knew something was wrong when he didn’t get tired like I did after every sparring match. I didn’t discover his secret until I accidentally cut him during a sword fight. I watched in amazement as his wound healed. It was the strangest and the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. He could have lied to me then but he didn’t. He told me what he was and how it was important not to tell anyone else. I gave him my word but that didn’t stop him from leaving the next morning. I moved on from there but I couldn’t help but wonder if there were more like him out there. I never suspected Crystal of being one but it was clear there was something different about her. Her twin sister didn’t have any extraordinary gifts but Crystal was so wonderful that she had to be different. I never pursued it though. When I met Stephanie for the first time, things started to go into perspective. Metas were out in the open now and they were cropping up all over the place. I’d met quite a few of them myself, helped them in some cases, even fought with a handful of them. Stephanie was like her mother. She had that same spunk, that same spark.

When she came back after her father was arrested, Leslie confirmed it for me. Stephanie was a Meta just like I suspected her mother might be. To say that I was thrilled was an understatement. I’d long given up on my crime fighting. Not because I wanted to but because I lost the passion for it. I was no match for the Metas out there. When I saw Stephanie, saw how passionate she was for these kinds of things I got fearful for her. Tim had already started taking up my mantle as the city’s protector. He came home each night with numerous bruises. I couldn’t help but see Stephanie with the same and it pained me a great deal. So I put her through her paces when she first got here just to see if she could do it. She surprised me but then again she was her mother’s daughter. But when she found my equipment and came to me asking for me to help her, I couldn’t do it.

I was scared to lose her like I lost her mother. Like I lost my parents.

But she went and did it anyway. There was no stopping her. That’s when Barbara suggested we help her without her knowing. So I called Onyx---an old friend, and we started. Stephanie didn’t know I was behind it all and I liked it that way. When the press dubbed her the Bat, I let her go with it. I was curious to see how she developed. She surprised me. She did more for the city than I ever did. She destroyed Thrill, took out a powerful drug dealer and befriended one of the city’s finest. She did it with style too and charisma, enough to make anyone proud. She also put a fire in me again. Hearing about her in action, secretly watching her training sessions with Onyx, I realized why I started all this in the first place. It was never about me, it was about helping people and making sure no one ever had to feel the pain I felt.

I’m not sure where I lost that drive but seeing Stephanie do what I should have been doing got me to find my drive again.

Alfred cleared his throat. “You’re staring off into space sir,” he said with a smile.

“Just thinking about whether I did the right thing or not.”

“About Miss Stephanie?” he asked and I nodded. He chuckled.

“Take it from someone who knows. If a young person gets a crazy enough idea in their head, there’s nothing you can do to stop them.”

I smiled at that. “You sure tried.”

“May I make a suggestion sir?”

“Since when have you had to ask?”

“The lies sir” he said as if I didn’t make my remark. “You told her you weren’t going to lie to her anymore and yet you kept the greatest one from her.”

I frowned. He and I had had this conversation before, a hundred times in fact. It never got us anywhere. “I’m protecting her.”

Alfred frowned. “You’re a fool that’s what you were. That young woman is marvelous; you don’t give her enough credit. But to make her think that that man is her…”

I cut him off with the raising of my hand. “It’s not time. When she’s ready…”

Alfred frowned. “It’s only going to get harder as time goes on.”
I nodded. I wasn’t home when Crystal announced she was pregnant. I didn’t come home when she had the child either. I was so busy trying to get revenge that it clouded my judgment. She and I left on bad terms. She was dating Arthur and I hated him. I wanted her to leave that jerk and run off with me. There was some nasty words exchanged on both our parts and I ran away. It was that argument that led me into becoming the man I am today. If not for Crystal I would still been that lonely boy waiting for his parents to come home. She helped create the Bat in her own right and I was forever thankful for her. When I finally got back into the city, the baby was grown and her mother gone. It hurt so much to know that the last conversation I had with the woman I loved was with such anger.

I opened my mouth to respond when there was a knock on the door. I didn’t even get a chance to say come in before the door opened. Tim was standing there, shirtless. His body was wrapped in gauze, his bruised face severely swollen. He looked like he’d been hit by a truck. When he stumbled out of Stephanie’s car, I feared the worst. He was so battered that he collapsed in Alfred’s arms. Thankfully, my old friend was a field medic in the army or else Tim would have been in a lot worse shape than he was. I definitely didn’t want Leslie here if I could help it. She didn’t agree with my nocturnal activities at all. She didn’t like the fact that I dragged Tim into it either. Not that I had much of a choice in the matter. When he found out what I was doing, he wanted to be a part of it. He said he owed it to his family too. So I trained himself myself.

He was leaning against the doorframe. “Did Stephanie leave?”

“About five minutes ago” I said and saw the look of disappoint on his face.

When I saw him show interest in her at first I was a bit peeved. There was no way I’d ever let him anywhere near her…anywhere near my…Tim was a good kid but he formed attachments that were too strong. He’d date a lot of girls on the side but he always found one that he loved above all others. Ariana was a fling, something I knew he did to make Stephanie jealous. But there was another girl he’d been serious about and loved her a great deal. She broke his heart when she left and he went into a dark place. Tim had a lot of dark moods. That was one of the reasons why I didn’t want him to do what I did. He was too brash, too violent and head strong. When he started donning his own costume, skulking about in the night, I didn’t have the strength at the time to stop him. But as I started to mend, I realized that I needed to curve him. So I suggested Oracle. She helped him, aiming him in the right direction. He was still brash but he had a purpose. He felt that if he could pick up where I left off---looking into Thrill---then he might prove to me that he could be the hero that I was. Then Stephanie came into our lives and I saw that same look of longing in his eyes. That same passion. I knew what would happen if he fell in love with her and she didn’t return it.

He did too. But to my surprise, she did as well. It was a little rough at first but I came to accept it. Not that I liked it but I understood Tim would pursue her even if I tried to stop it. So I was letting it go for now. Stephanie was a smart girl and I trusted her judgment. Tim was a good kid but he needed discipline and maybe she would be the one to give it to him.

“Master Tim you should be resting” said Alfred as he walked over and helped Tim to a chair.

My battered ward was currently hobbling with a limp.

Tim waved Alfred off as he sat. “I hate lying there and doing nothing, Al”.

“You’ve done enough, Master Tim.”

He frowned at that. I could tell he knew he was in for a scolding. Not from me though. As much as I wanted to chew him out for going off half cocked like that, I was done lecturing. Alfred on the other hand didn’t share my reluctance. I sat with an amused smile as my oldest friend in the world berated the young fool. It went on for a while and Tim took it without saying a word. But his posture told me everything. His head was hanging low and his shoulders slumped like a child who knew they’d done something wrong. It was the first time I’d seen something like that in him. I couldn’t help but smile and realize that maybe Stephanie was the best thing for him after all.

“Stephanie is coming back tomorrow after school” I said, Tim’s head perked up. “I’m taking over her training. If you were to show up in the Gym I wouldn’t refuse you as well.”

He smiled. “I won’t screw up this time.”

“You better not because this is the last chance I’m giving you.”

He nodded and with that, he stood up. I held out my hand and he shook it. Then he nodded to Alfred and hobbled out the door. As soon as he gone, I looked at my watch and cursed. Alfred turned and frowned.

“Really sir, you’re just like Master Tim.”

“I’m sorry Alfred but I have a meeting.”

He looked at his own watch. “It’s nearly four am.”

I smiled. “The person I’m meeting with has strange hours.”

“I’ll bring the car around” he groaned and left the room.

I smiled. Out of all the people in my life, he was the most reliable.

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The meeting was in the Narrows in one of the locations I recently procured from Henry Ballard. I say procure but the truth in the matter was I took it in a hostile takeover. Now that Ballard was in prison---for a very long time---his company was in shambles. It didn’t long for me to acquire it. Most of his property was like the one I was currently standing in front of. He had a lot of old real estate, claiming to have purchased it to develop into high-rise condos. But the truth in the matter was that he ran illegal operations out such places. When I got his company, I got a look at his books and found that Ballard had had his hand in a lot of this mess. When Booster Gold took him down---with my help---things were cracked wide open for the world to see.

“Are you sure this is the place?”asked Alfred with a shudder.

It was clear he didn’t like where we were. How could he. The place was dark and dank, the buildings all close together with tight shadows in-between them. It was the perfect place for an ambush. It was also the perfect place to meet someone who didn’t fit in well in a boardroom. It was my choice to meet here not theirs. In fact, when they first contacted me with their proposal I wanted nothing to do with it. The technology they were offering didn’t interest me in the least. But after my run in with Diego, the world had changed for me. After wallowing in pity for a long time, I realized that if I still wanted to continue then I needed to step up my game. So I made some calls and came to a beneficial arrangement. It was a onetime deal and it cost a fortune but it was worth it in the end. I got what I wanted and my “friend” got a lot of money.

“This is the place,” I said, sticking my hands into my overcoat pockets.

Alfred glanced around wearily. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll wait in the car. This skulking about in the dark is your business.”

I chuckled. “Suit yourself; I’ll only be a minute.”

I left my fearful butler outside as I made my way in. The building was falling apart. It was old and worn down. At one time, it had been a part of a series of fine upscale apartments. But that was back fifty years ago. When the city started to develop further this part was completely abandoned. It was on the darker side of the Narrows where few dared to tread. Ballard bought the whole block from Carmine Falcone, who knows where he got it from. When Ballard was arrested, Falcone tried to buy it back from me but I’m not the kind of guy who does business with mobsters. I respectfully declined and he went back under whatever rock he crawled out from. Now that Sionis was out of the picture I was fairly certain Falcone would move into his territory anyway. I still owned most of that area but having been out of the game for several months now, it was teeming with scum. Stephanie and Tim had helped to clean a lot of it up but without constant enforcement, it wouldn’t be long before it filled up again.

I guess I was going to have to change that.

I found a flight of rickety stairs that led up to the top floor. I climbed them cautiously and made my way down the narrow hall to the last room on the left. When I got there, the door was already open and a small table was set up. I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. As soon as I did so my “friend” stepped out of the shadows, half of them still hidden, the other half partially visible in the light shining through the window. I saw long legs encased in black leather and knee-high boots.

“You’re late Mr. Wayne,” said a purring female voice.

I smirked. “I had some other business first.”

The person shifted and her leg disappeared. “Do you have the money?”

I reached into my coat and took out a pen and my checkbook. I walked over to the table and filled out the check. I ripped it off and left it there. “I’ll leave you to fill in the name, Miss…”

“That’s not important,” she said, taking a step forward.

She placed a large metal case on the floor in front of her. I stared at the case before taking a step toward it. I picked it up and carried it over to the table. As I was doing so, she stepped out of the shadows fully for the first time. She was tall and leggy, dressed all in black. She was a very beautiful woman but most of her features were obscured in shadows. She picked up the check and purred. I watched her with interest. Then she walked around the table. She swayed her hips as she approached me before putting her hands on my shoulders. She leaned in for a kiss and I didn’t resist. We held it for a long time before she pulled away then licked my cheek long and slow.

When she done she smiled. “It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Wayne”

She waved a bit and slipped back into the shadows.

I stood flabbergasted for a long time, staring at the dark. What a woman!

After I recovered, I opened the case and took a look inside. I smiled at what I saw. She did good work. I took off my coat, unbuttoned my shirt and slowly started to put on everything that was inside. Ten minutes later, I was down. I opened the window and jumped down to the street. When I landed, I didn’t feel the impact at all, the suit absorbing everything. It felt absolutely wonderful. In fact, it was better than wonderful. She did really good work. Alfred turned around and jumped slightly. He took a step back and then sighed, finally realizing who it was.

“So this is what all the secrecy has been about?” he asked with a frown.

“It was necessary to keep up the secrecy so as not to worry you my friend,” I said, the new tone of my voice amplified by the suit I was wearing.

“So is this truly the course you want to take?”

I nodded. “Stephanie and Tim have been holding down the fort very well. But I think it’s about time that I get back into the swing of things.”

“So in other words, I should expect you home at odd hours for a while now?”

I nodded. “Yes just like old times.”

He rolled his eyes. “Here we go again.”

He turned and walked back to the car, opening the door and getting inside without saying another word.

Me I went to the nearest building and climbed up it without a problem. The suit was amazing, having enhanced my agility and strength. When I made it to the top, I stood on the edge and stared out at the Narrows, my black cape billowing in the cold breeze. I stood and stared for a long time. It felt good to be here again, it felt right. After a minute or two, I tapped my left pointed ear, activating the radio inside of it. I made sure it was patched in to where I wanted it to go. “Oracle, do you copy?”

A few seconds later, her voice came on the line. “Bruce, is that you?”

“Not Bruce, not while I’m dressed like this.”

She sighed. “I know the drill. So what do I call you then?”

I smiled. “The Batman.”

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF