A/N: Hey guys! So this is a LOT different from anything I've ever written, and it's definitely a new kind of story for our page. This was actually a reader's request, (yes we take request). We promise to look at your requests and see if either of us wants to write it or has time to, BUT we do not promise to write it. Sometimes life just gets us, ya know? Anyway. Thank you guys so much for the continual support! Feel free to review, follow, PM, or favorite!

We do not own the characters in this story unless otherwise specified; all credits go to the Gotham writers and cast.

Warning: There will be mentions of self-harm in this fic. If you do not do well with this, or have struggled and are struggling, you may be wary of this. I understand this is a sensitive topic, and coming from someone who has experience it, I understand some people will not want to read it because of said subject. I felt it added to the story. Thank you for your understanding. ~ G

Bruce's warm empty feeling disappeared after he was rescued by the team from Galavan's clutches the moment he realized one thing - Alfred was not here. Alfred's always here. He wouldn't have let them come without him unless something had happened.

"Where's Alfred?" Bruce asked, nervously. Harvey Bullock shook his head and looked away. Selina looked on the verge of tears.

"He.. Um.." Detective Jim Gordon looked down at the boy. "He didn't make it Bruce.."

And the world went black.

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Bruce woke up to a stark white room and beeping monitors, all hooked in various places on his body. His head hurt, and so did his heart when he remembered what had happened. He felt that his right palm was heavy, and he looked over to see Selina asleep in a chair, clutching his hand for dear life.

"S-Selina," Bruce murmured, his voice weak after days of not using it. She jolted with a start and rubbed her eyes.

"W-Wha," she yawned, "what's up kid?" He looked deep into her eyes and she looked away. She already knew what he was going to ask.

"What happened?"

"Well, you know. Galavan kidnapped you, and so a bunch of us got together, kicked ass, and got you back and Detective Gordon did this really cool thing while he was fighting and-"

"No. What.. What happened to him?" The boy asked, with huge, watery eyes. He looked like he had gone back to six-years-old, asking why their puppy was not coming home from the vet.

"He.. He died for you, kid.." Selina looked away. "He went looking for you when he couldn't find you, but found Tabitha Galavn instead. She.. She cut him real bad, shot him even. He survived all that, and ended up in the dump. Tabitha and her goons chased him through the dump, but he.. He managed to escape. He limped his way back to the police station to find Jim Gordon and tell him that he knew Theo Galavan had taken you but.. He never made it.. He bled out from his wounds about three blocks from the police station."

Bruce drew his breath and bit his bottom lip. He could not cry in front of Selina.

"A passerby saw him on the ground and ran to the police station," she continued, "Jim came out and found him. He told Jim who had you, so he was able to come find you.. He.. He's the reason we found you," she finished, tears visibly coming down her face. "I'm sorry, Bruce.. He's.. He's gone."

Bruce whimpered and Selina looked at him. She leaned over and hugged him tight, and Bruce gave up his steely look.

A heart-wrenching sob could be heard from across the hospital. So much so, a nurse ran from the nurses' station ran into the room, panicked and thinking something had happened to Bruce. Well, medically, that is.

Nothing could undo the damage that had been done to the boy's mind. Three. That brings the total to three guardians. Three guardian angels, now.

Bruce cried, and he cried. Selina didn't know it was possible for one person's heart to be torn into so many pieces as Bruce Wayne's was, but she held him as he cried, and that he did. She didn't blame him. She held him, and she cried some, too.

Alfred had touched them all. He had done so much for all of them, taking them in, making them his. The girl tried to make Bruce smile, but nothing helped. She told memories of the butler, which only led to more crying and screaming.

This vicious cycle continued for seven hours, twenty minutes, and sixteen seconds, Selina had counted every second. She would never forget those seven hours, twenty minutes, and sixteen seconds of her life. She would be haunted by those sobs, screams, and shakes for the rest of her nights. That was something she would never forget.

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Detective Jim Gordon had walked into the hospital room to see two broken teenagers, one more than the other, tangled together in an embrace that never ended.

He took a breath as he knocked on the side of the door, causing both of them go look up.

He had never seen a more heart-wrenching sight in all his years of being with he police, but he would deal with that later. He came with a purpose, and a promise to fulfill. He came to take the boy home.

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Alfred Pennyworth had sustained many injuries in his days, but none without going so long without treatment. He thought it was ironic he would die of the same stab would he inflicted upon many others in the war. He wondered how the Queen was doing; the old woman never dies. It's funny the thoughts that go through a man right before he's about to die. That was, until Jim Gordon was right above him, kneeling over him like he was some sort of dead man. Oh wait.

"Alfred?.. Oh, Alfred.. The boy," Jim worried.

"He's," Alfred coughed and blood came up, "Theo. Galavan." Jim nodded and understood.

"Alright. We can get him. But we have to get you help-"

"No... Go now. There's no time. If you do not get to Bruce fast, he will be dead within the hour," Alfred croaked.

"But-"

"No buts. That boy.. He is far more important to this city than I.. And.. It's time. I pledged to give my life for that boy and I have. Go now."

"A-Alright," Jim said as he got up to leave Alfred, only moments away from death.

"Wait, Jim.. Promise me something," Alfred whispered.

"Yes?"

"Take care of him. Take care of my boy. He'll.. He'll need.. Need it."

Jim nodded, and the man slowly laid his head down to the ground. He was okay now. He saw the wondrous golden light in the sky he had heard so much about. He hoped that Bruce would be okay. There was no time for him left on this earth anymore, but he hoped he would be granted permission to come watch over him. Alfred wanted to be able to watch his boy grow up. Well, more than he already had.

And with those last thoughts, and the image of Jim Gordon running towards the police station, yelling frantically, Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth retired from his job as a butler, and from this earth. He had made his promise to the Wayne's he would give his life for their boy, and he did. But, what a wonderful sacrifice he was able to make.

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Bruce sat in Jim Gordon's apartment, staring into the darkness. It was normal nowadays. Jim was used to walking in to seeing the boy standing near the edge of the window, or next to the fire place, too close for Jim's liking. It wasn't until the day he walked into Bruce Wayne standing in the kitchen with a knife, and numerous slits in his arms that he was truly concerned.

"Bruce.. Whatcha got there?" Jim said softly, approaching as if Bruce were a wild animal, aloof and ready to run. Bruce looked up, eyes panicked and backed up, still holding the knife. "Bruce?"

"It should have been me."

"No, no, don't say that! He loved you very much."

"Then why did he go?" Bruce cried out and dropped to the floor, dropping the knife. Jim rushed over and picked up the frail boy, he hadn't been eating lately, and carried him over to the couch. He ran into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and ran back into the room, hoping Bruce hadn't gotten the knife again. He was relieved to see Bruce was just sitting, staring blankly at a wall, again.

"Bruce. Why did you do this?" Jim asked him as he bandaged the boy's arms. "Would he have wanted this for you?" The boy sobbed again.

"It's so cold, Jim. It's cold everywhere. That's why I sit next to the fireplace all the time. It's cold, but not outside. It's cold.. Inside me." The boy began to shiver. "It's so cold.. I just.. Can't do it anymore."

Jim Gordon wrapped his arms around the boy and suddenly he understood what the boy meant.

The butler was a part of the boy. It's like taking a piece of the puzzle out of the box, and asking someone to put it back together. You may still have the puzzle, but it will never be the same. The boy lost a piece of him that day when Alfred Pennyworth died. The two were connected, linked to each other by the soul. They were so deeply intertwined with each other, one cannot exist without the other. His warm presence is gone, and Bruce has nothing.

"I don't understand why," Bruce murmured blankly, "why bad things happen to good people. My parents were good people. Alfred was the best person I knew. I don't understand why.." The boy choked on a sob, "why they took him away from me. He was all I had left. He was ALL I HAD LEFT!"

Jim wrapped they boy up in his arms and rocked him back and forth. "Bruce, Bruce it's okay."

"He's gone," the boy murmured. "He's gone forever."

"He's still with you. Always. Remember that Bruce," the detective whispered into the boy's ear.

"Please.. Please make it go away.. Make the pain go away...," the boy sobbed out.

The boy screamed loudly, but it was not an angry scream. It was one filled with such agony that not even the bearers of nightmares visited him that night. Jim Gordon had no idea what to do, so he did all he knew to do. He held the teenager turned little boy in an adult's war.

He held the boy and sang him an old English folk song, as his screams of agony rung out into the night. So agonizing, even the cats with Selina Kyle did not dare to sleep.

A/N: So there it is! It's definitely.. Different. Let me know what you think! Heh.. Thank you guys, as always, for your support! Feel free to check out our other fics! Thanks!

~G