At the funeral Bruce shows flashes of grief and anger. He has vowed many times to Alfred and Jim that he will have his vengeance. Commissioner Loeb was also there. And right by his side was Flass. Loeb leans down to talk to Bruce but his words were cold and void of sympathy. Loeb just seems to be looking out for his interest.
Alfred takes his friends’ death extremely hard. He reminisces when he and Thomas met. They were 20 years old and there were at a charity event. Thomas was with his parents Kenneth and Catherine. The two young men met at the bar where Thomas was ordering a Coke. The bartender asked Thomas if he wanted something stronger because he certainly looked over 21. Thomas said he is 20 but he and his parents don’t drink. They keep up appearances, not appear in the tabloids.
A voice coming up behind him said, “You don’t hear someone your age turning down alcohol too often, especially where I’m from,” the stranger said. Thomas answers, “Whoa, cool accent, London?” “Yup,” was the Englishman’s response. “Hi, I’m Thomas.” Pleased to meet you.” “I’m Alfred. The pleasure’s mine, chap.”
The two chat for 10 minutes but become instant friends. Alfred just finished his mandatory service from the British Royal Army, with high honors. They offered him a high ranking position but he said he didn’t like the politics of it all. He wanted to make a difference behind the scenes, not on the battlefield. Out of appreciation they offered him one year working visa to anywhere in the world. They assumed he wanted work in the private sector at a respected security or weapons manufacturer but he wanted a break from it all and visit Gotham City.
Then a voice from behind yells to Alfred that his break is over. The figure appears with a tray of champagne and a towel. Alfred looks embarrassed. He tells Thomas he supposes that he doesn’t want to be his friend anymore because he of the line of work he chose. He wanted a job as a waiter to see if he can become friendly with powerful business men that could make a difference for the needy. He still hasn’t found anyone but of course, he hasn’t been assigned to work a function that the Wayne’s were at until now. Alfred thought that maybe Thomas would think he is only talking to him to get money from him for some cause. Bruce assures him he respects what Alfred is doing and maybe his father can find a job for him.
Thomas introduces Alfred to his father Kenneth who is instantly impressed. Thomas offers him a high ranking security and consulting job but Alfred promises that he has learned that in war it’s the foot soldiers who are the most valiant. Alfred confides that he actually loves his job now so if he can do that for the Wayne’s he would be happiest. Alfred is hired on the spot to be the caretaker of Wayne Manor.
Thomas and Alfred became inseparable. Neither thought Alfred was “lower” than the Wayne’s. Every guest of the home boasted that Alfred is one of a kind.
Victor and Nora Fries also take the Wayne’s death very hard, especially Victor. He knows Nora was trying to calm him that night but he ignored her. It was the combination of Thomas being laid back yet confident in his opinions, who he is and what Wayne Enterprises supports, mixed with the temper and passion of young Bruce that set Victor off. Victor sees a lot of himself in Bruce and Thomas but he is not used to hearing “No.” Still he feels responsible for causing the scene that forced the Wayne’s to step out of the building into death.
The Wayne deaths caused multiple shockwaves throughout Gotham. Their killer, Joe Chill was dually seen as a coward by the general public who wanted him to get the death penalty but also seen as a hero to criminals. His one act inspired criminals to rise up and take from the spoiled rich which caused a spike in crime.
Commissioner Loeb was under a lot of heat for the rise in crime. He initially looked to new CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox to pour more money into GCPD; mainly the Organized Crime Division. Fox obliged and crime began to dip.
This dip in crime caused Carmine Falcone, who was taking over as the crime boss of Gotham City to make a bold move. He risked certain jail time by offering Loeb “a personal and professional lifetime of security if he was adopted into the Falcone Family.” Loeb gave into the pressure. Falcone also bought Bullock, Flass and about ¼ of the GCPD. Judges and assistant district attorneys were bought. This brought crime to an all-time high.
The second shockwave was the overwhelming public support of Wayne Enterprises’ work in defense, weaponry and technology. More investors flooded the company’s bank account. Public sentiment was that Fox should invest more money and resources into his partnership with the GCPD.
Fox’s response was upping the percentage of revenue from 50% to 65% to be invested in the Technology Division. More homes and businesses signed up with Wayne Securities. Gotham University felt responsible for not having Wayne Security as their provider during the murders so they quickly signed on to have Wayne Security secure their campus.
All of this public and private Wayne Security cooperation with the GCPD as a result of the rise of crime has forced the business that Falcone’s security companies serve to request the same partnership. Falcone’s companies offer cheaper prices but the technology is not nearly close to Wayne Enterprises’. People feel if GCPD was linked up with Falcone’s security company it would offset the lack of technology. Falcone had to cave to save face.
This then cut some of Falcone’s crime down in certain neighborhoods. It forced him to consolidate his fronts to fewer buildings or parts of buildings than he wanted. He can’t exactly have certain of his own buildings and properties not linked to GCPD. But of course he chose which cameras he wanted linked up to GCPD. The other security companies followed suit in giving GCPD access to their security feeds so crime has gone down since Wayne Enterprises worked so closely with the GCPD.
As young Bruce enters his teens he remains close to Jim Gordon and has asked that Jim work in the Organized Crime Division so he could work with Fox. Due to his influence, even at a young age, Loeb made this happen. Falcone wanted Bruce to trust Loeb. But to keep their guys in the loop Bullock and Flass were also moved to Organized Crime. The former head of the division, Peter Grogan is still clean which, for the time being, is what Loeb and Falcone want to keep the Falcone GCPD officials safe from suspicion.
Overtime Fox and Gordon have gotten close. Alfred who is always trying to ensure Wayne Manor and its grounds are up to date with the best technology to keep young Bruce safe has also become closer with the two gentlemen.
The lessons his father has taught him usually comes to Bruce's memory when he goes through his relationship rollercoasters with childhood friends Tommy Elliot and Selina Kyle. At times the boys would fight over Selina. She always seemed to love it and played each boy off of one another. Selina was each young man's first love but she always seemed to go for the bad guy. Bruce and Tommy have always put their relationship over any relationship they had with Selina, but that was tested many times.
The Elliots and Kyles have been there for Bruce but nothing seems to help the pain his parents’ death has caused. Selina only seems to be hanging out with Bruce when he is focused and driven. The times he needs a shoulder to cry on she finds an excuse to have her parents take her home or have Alfred come pick him up from her house.
Over time Tommy seems to be more jealous of Bruce than anything. Bruce has inherited his parents’ fortune but Tommy still has to earn his allowance. Thanks to the work of Hugo Strange, Tommy doesn’t act out anymore. At times when Tommy normally would act out he controls his emotions.
Everyone could tell when Tommy is fighting to keep his emotions under the surface, especially during competition or if he feels second string to Bruce, or if Bruce is getting too much attention or sympathy. But Bruce could tell whatever Tommy is suppressing is simmering and will someday erupt.
But since Tommy’s parents are so pleased with Tommy’s change, they want Bruce to see Hugo Strange to deal with his parents’ death. Alfred agrees because he used to witness many of Tommy’s outbursts, or at least had to clean up after them to know that Tommy is a lot better.
Bruce starts to see Strange but instantly doesn’t like the creepy doctor. While in session, Strange is always pushing Bruce to bring out the darker, inner feelings of rage and vengeance to the surface. When Bruce is not in session, Strange wants Bruce to repress his feelings around others unless he really has to act on them. Strange doesn’t fault Bruce for showing the emotions that caused him to lose his temper with Fries and the mugger, but Bruce needed to control them more; just like Tommy does.
Strange wants Bruce to accept that is who he is, but he must control the feelings until he needs them to come to the surface. Bruce needs to act first and attack, whether it’s physically or by a decision. Bruce needs to recognize and accept that he will be a powerful man; more powerful than his father. Many people will be under him, but many rivals and enemies will try to attack him. He then will have to control or be ahead of any reactions. But a swift action from Bruce should be powerful enough to wipe out any possible reactions. Those times will call for Bruce to defend himself and what he believes in, no matter what he believes in. Strange is always talking about the vast progress he makes with Tommy.
Bruce also begins taking self-defense lessons to better control his rage and focus on defending then counter attacking, opposed to attack first. He needs to make his reaction be more powerful than the initial action. This mentality is against what Strange preaches to him, so many times Bruce is conflicted. Bruce still blames himself for his parents’ death because he tried to attack instead of protecting his parents.
Bruce has the same drive and determination that every Wayne man seems to have. He vows for vengeance against Chill. He vows to make Wayne Enterprises more powerful than his dad could ever dream.