Thinking of reintroducing Ruby's cat Alfred as an NPC. A hyperintelligent cat may or may not be an eldritch beast who can cook, somewhat talk and snarks at people.
Summary: on Earth-3, Alfie Pennyworth forces a young Thomas Wayne Jr. to make a firm decision about his future
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How long did it take to get over that kind of incident?
A therapist would say it would take years of expensive analysis. A boss would give you the rest of the day off.
Alfie was neither the boy’s therapist, nor his boss.
He had held a multitude of jobs for Thomas Snr., for the most part shadowing him in his day to day activities, even doing the grunt work like filling out forms and bringing him coffee, but there was no question of his true purpose, which was to ensure that if someone tried to harm Thomas Snr, Alfie would get to them first.
And he had failed greatly in that assignment.
(continued below the cut)
He had trouble remembering the details of the incident; it all had happened so quickly. The arresting officer pulling his gun on Thomas Snr., the rapid shots in succession, the scattering of Mrs. Wayne’s pearl necklace…the faint cry that young Bruce had let out before his life was cut tragically short…
Alfie had been in enough gunfights to know how unpredictable they could be, especially in the hands of Officer Chill, that foolish young upstart of a policeman who was eager to make a name for himself, but lacked the nerves to back it up.
He felt remorse for Thomas and Martha, but not direct responsibility.
He took pride in the fact that he had gotten young Tommy out of there…but he was saddened that he couldn’t have protected young Bruce better.
And now…he was responsible for Tommy.
He knew he had no right raising a child. Hell, if he wanted to raise a child, he could go back to the old country and look up his daughter. But he had made a commitment to Thomas Snr., and he had to follow it through.
He knew that the trauma of the incident would be something that would take years to get over…but he knew that if that were to ever happen, it all depended on what Tommy would.do at this time.
They were sitting in Thomas Snr.’s former study, Alfie in the guest chair with Tommy behind the desk - at Alfie’s insistence. The two of them used to get along so well, but right now the tension in the room was the equivalent of being summoned to the headmaster’s study.
“So, we have something to talk about,” Alfie began
“I told you, I didn’t start that fire,” Tommy snapped
“I don’t care. It’s not just the fire, it’s the attitude, the skipped meals…I may not have a degree in psychohistory, but I’ve seen this kind of behavior before.”
He sighed, leaning forward on the desk.
“I never told you this, but back in the day, I was a regular in the Boat Corps. The line of work where they drop you behind enemy lines with a box of C-rations and all the ammo clips you can carry. We did things that never made the papers - left behind scenes of incursion that would be blamed on local warlords, pirate gangs. And in that line of work…there’s only so much bloodshed you can incur before you hit the wall. You don’t know if you can continue down the path life’s shown you. When that happens, you can either keep moving, or you stay stuck forever, and drag down the whole team.”
At that point, Alfie reached to the leather attache case on the desk in front of Tommy, opening it to himself and taking out one item, a rather old revolver.
“This is a Verita pistol, s’got six .45 caliber rounds. It’s a cheap bit of trash from Corto Maltese, but anyone with a thumb and an index finger can use it, can end the life of anyone less than ten yards away.”
He placed the revolver on the right of the case, then took out the second item inside of it, a black combat knife that was not too big, but made of sturdy steel with a refined curve..
“Now this…this is a Hogan KB. Standard issue in the Special Boat Brigade. It might not look like much, but in the right hands, the wielder can conquer the world around them.”
Alfie placed the knife on the left of the case.
“You have to choose one of these.”
“...what? A rusty old gun or a knife?”
“No. If you choose the knife, I’ll show you how to use it. How to make sure no one ever screws with you again. Teach how to do blade-combat, how to strike a killing blow.”
“...and if I choose the gun?”
“If you choose the gun…I’ll reunite you with your parents and brother.”
A tense silence.
Tommy’s eyes darted around the room. He was easy to read; he was in great discomfort, and wanted to leave. But then he glanced into Alfie’s determined eyes and knew that wasn’t going to happen. It was a humbling moment, though he had believed his childhood had ended the night of the incident…he knew in this room he had no more power than a newborn.
Tommy looked at the knife. He had seen knives like that before, heard of what trained assassins could use it for. If he had known how to use such a weapon on that night…
Then there was the gun. He didn’t know if he believed that he would truly be reunited with his family…but he knew it would end the pain.
“Alfie…” Tommy began
“Yes…?” Alfie answered
The silence between them was deafening, and though it only lasted a couple of seconds, both of them would remember it as having lasted a lifetime.
“...could someone really conquer the world with that knife? Even if the other person had a gun?” Tommy finally asked
A rush of relief flooded over Alfie.
“Yes, yes they could. I know a handful of ways that this knife could beat a gun…want to go outside, so I can show you?”
