[Batman Beyond] - Partnership (Ace, Bruce)
Despite his antisocial nature, it was surprisingly difficult for Bruce to resort to utter solitude. Alfred had been dead for years. Barbara had become the new Commissioner Gordon. Dick had gone off to become Nightwing. And Jason… Well, Jason was happier now. That’s what Bruce chose to believe.
But somewhere along the line, Bruce had gotten used to having other warm bodies in the mansion. Even when the kids were obnoxious and got in the way, at least things hadn’t ever been boring. Bruce wouldn’t ever had admitted to it, but part of the reason why he had retired from Wayne Industries and thrown himself with renewed vigor into the role of Batman was because it kept him from being isolated in his lonely office or home.
Eventually, even Bruce Wayne had to admit that he had a problem. He thought long and hard about what would be the most reasonable solution. This problem had never arisen before because he had always either had Alfred or one of the kids around. Another butler was out of the question, as was a child. Bruce had made the decision long ago to never force a kid into the life he chose to lead. All of the children that he had brought up had come to him in one way or another. They had asked to be a part of it. Bruce refused to break that policy now.
It took several years of solitude, but Bruce finally decided that his best option was to buy a puppy.
There hadn’t been any animals kept at Wayne Manor for decades, despite the fact that there had been all sorts of animals in Bruce’s childhood. Horses and dogs and birds and his father’s cat. But the only animals who graced the manor now were the bats who lived in the cave and the wildlife that prowled the grounds.
Bruce knew that raising a puppy wasn’t an easy task under normal circumstances and could very well be impossible to accomplish while being Batman as well. Fortunately, the crime rate had been low and most of the supervillains had gone into hiding or been locked up in Arkham. Bruce could make it work.
The puppy whined the entire car ride back to the manor. Bruce glanced over at the carrier in the passenger seat that contained the tiny, wriggling creature. He kept his eyes on the road, even as it squeaked from inside the carrier.
“Whining will do you no good,” he said after a time. “You’ll just have to learn to deal with it.”
The whining turned into yelping and scratching. Bruce didn’t say anything else until he actually turned into the long drive up to the manor.
“I’m going to call you Ace,” said Bruce. “After a friend I once knew.”
Bruce decided quickly that he was going to have to restrict himself to living on the first storey of the mansion for a while. At least until Ace had gotten housetrained. There were too many stairs for a puppy and Bruce had no desire to have to walk up and down each of them in the middle of the night to take him outside. Especially when it might be too late to get him outside anyways, considering how long it could take to get down those stairs. The last thing Bruce wanted was to have to clean up puppy pee at four in the morning.
He set Ace down on a few old cushions and then spread a blanked out for himself on a couch.
“You had better be pleased that you’ve gotten me to give up my bed upstairs for you.”
Ace looked up at Bruce and whined, pawing at Bruce’s leg. He tried to scramble up onto the couch, presumably to sleep with his new master. Bruce picked him up and set him down firmly on the floor.
“No,” he said sternly. “You stay down there.”
Ace whined, but Bruce was relentless.
“I said no. I mean it.”
It took a while, but Bruce finally managed to fall asleep despite Ace’s whining.
Of course, when Bruce woke up the next morning, he found Ace draped across his chest, snoring softly. His first instinct was to push Ace off and scold him, but this was such a nice feeling that he hated to spoil it… Maybe just this once, it was okay. Bruce raised a hand to stroke the soft fur. If there had been anyone there to see, they would have accused him of almost smiling.
“Hey Killer. How’s it goin’?”
Bruce didn’t even look back as he heard Terry walk into the cave and greet Ace. The kid had gotten to be quite attached to Ace, despite their rough first encounter. Terry was still scratching Ace’s ears as they walked over to Bruce and the console.
“You know if I die I’m leaving you to Ace.” Bruce rested his chin upon withered folded hands.
“Don’t you mean you’re leaving Ace to me?” Terry walked over and leaned an elbow on Bruce’s chair.
“No, I mean I’m leaving you to him. He’s more responsible than you are.”
Bruce smiled to himself Terry sputtered angrily. Ace walked up to Bruce and put his great head on the old man’s knee. Bruce patted his head fondly. After all, there was nothing more trustworthy than a loyal partner.