flippin_peachy | RP With Eleanor Bishop

RP With Eleanor Bishop

One might assume that Alfred Pennyworth, with his sharp looking suit and polite manners, would stick out at a prison but it's actually quite the opposite. He moves through it with a sort of calm assurance, like a man who is walking through a place he's been before and is no stranger to the rules or customs.

The time he spent in jail was not in America, it was back in England and while it thankfully wasn't for very long it goes a long way to giving him the aura of someone not to be messed with. Something the other inmates can sense and when he passes by their cells they don't mock him, only glance up for a moment as he goes by towards the visiting center.

The guard gives him a small, respectful nod and opens the door for him and it is only now that his heart starts to pound. It's not from being in a prison, it's from the woman sitting in the center of the room waiting for him.

Even now, years later and under rather bad circumstance, she takes his breath away.

"Hello, Ellie." He says, calling her by his old nickname for her.

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"Oh, come on. You know I've always been focused in work." Eleanor had not come from luxury like Derek did, she had studied and worked hard her whole life, just like Alfred did. It was another reason why her old flame had always understood her better than her husband did.

Bantering aside, something else caught her attention. "I'm sorry, a boyfriend?"

Kate rarely shared her own love life with her mother, most of her relationships something she shared casually whenever she came back home from campus. Eleanor was glad for these news, she realized. At least her daughter wasn't alone with her thoughts these holidays. She had Alfred, Bruce and whoever this boy was. "Tell me he is good to her."

She's not shocked to hear Kate is angry, that as much is obvious. In all honesty, she had every reason to feel disappointed. "Did you tell Kate you were coming?" Eleanor asked, putting down the tea pot.

He clucks his tongue softly against the roof of his mouth when he realizes that he has very little information about the man Kate is seeing, "I think so. She was staying with him originally when she came to Gotham but they hit a bit of a rough patch, one she admits was mostly her fault, and decided it was a little too soon to be shacked up together. Which is how she came to stay with us."

Gently Alfred shakes his head, "No. She and I....have also had a recent argument and I decided it best not to say anything of my plan to visit you."

If Eleanor is passing any judgement of Kate's living arrangement on a relationship that is probably too sudden in a very vulnerable moment in her life... Well, she does try and bite her tongue about it. But her relief is obvious when Albert mentions that her daughter is staying at Wayne manor instead of with mystery man.

"Good. It was far too soon," she mutters against her wish to be understanding of Kate's wishes.

At the mention of Kate and Alfred's clash, she does straighten her posture, frowing lightly as she lowers her cup of tea before she can even blow on it.

"You argued because of me," she states, this clearly not being a question.

Eleanor's relief is more than obvious and if they were in a different position he might have laughed and teased her about that reaction but for now he just nods at her second statement, the one about his argument with Kate.

"Yes." A small pause before he adds, "She found out about her father and his initial involvement with Fisk."

If her relief was obvious then her shock now hits even harder. Lowering the cup until it almost touches the metallic table, her lips remain parted, but now words come out of her mouth just yet.

"She..."

Eleanor had been so careful about that, keeping every document sealed and hidden, making sure Derek's involvment was a secret lost in time.

"Did Fisk spill out? My lawyer didn't say a thing..."

"I honestly don't know how she found out." Alfred says, "But she has and that is part of why we argued."

He pauses to take a sip of tea and gather his thoughts. "I got frustrated with her when she kept blaming you for it all and calling you a bad person." He looks up into Eleanor's eyes. "Which you're not, you made a mistake. I've made plenty of those so I understand but Kate refused to listen, she had already made her mind up as to who the villain in the story was."

Getting lost in her own thoughts, Eleanor finally allows herself to taste that tea, her eyes closing as she allows herself to enjoy it and, for a very brief moment, imagine she's not behind bars or wearing cuffs.

She sighs as Alfred explains the situation, very much returning to her current reality. "You shouldn't have fought, you don't need to defend me." Eleanor points out quietly, even though she reaches for his hand to give it a grateful squeeze. "I understand why she is mad, why she's heartbroken over her dad. I always feared this might happen someday."

"I didn't defend you because I thought I had to, I did it because I know you Ellie. I know you never meant for this to get so bad."

He says and laces his fingers through hers, holding her hand tightly.

"And I know why you never told her, why you let her keep thinking her father was perfect."

"I never intended to kill anyone, but I did." And that has nothing to do with Derek, she tells herself, even though she is well aware of how things snowglobbed as years passed and she had no other option but to work with Fisk.

There's clear sadness in the way she smiles, holding tight onto Alfred's hand.

"She deserved not to be disappointed by at least one of her parents."

"I know."

And he knows that the guilt is eating her alive, just like it does to him when he has to kill. He's never liked it, he just happens to be good at it.

"She also deserves to know that her parents are people. Real ones who make mistakes like she will."

Always trying to keep a regal aura to herself, Eleanor is careful about her posture, never hunching her back, always keeping the tone of her voice under control.

Right now, she bats her lashes a few times, trying not to let her weakness overcome her.

"She deserves someone like you to look after her." And yet, she shakes her head. "I know I put a huge responsibility over your shoulders when you already have Bruce. I don't know what I did to deserve you, in all honesty."

"First of all, you didn't put anything on me. I offered." He says firmly.

"And second, you know what you did to deserve me."

His voice is a soft rumble and he looks into her eyes with quiet sincerity. She knows that he will always love her, that he'll always be here for her.

It was all bad timing when it came to them. She was with someone, he was with someone. There was business and travelling and mistakes, but one thing never changed. She did love him back, even when she also loved someone else.

"You deserved someone better then," she corrects herself, holding up his hand to feel it once more against her face.

Back when they reunited, Jacques had been by her side, a future husband. Again bad timing. Now, he saw her bare like nobody else could.

Alfred had his fair share of female attention back then but he would have dropped it all for her, no one save Eleanor had come close to snagging his heart the way his great love Esme had.

"You'll have to pardon my language but that's a load of bullshit." He says dryly and opens his hand to caress her cheek. His hands are rough and callused from years of hard work and yet they stroke her skin with infinite softness.

"But Ellie, I have to ask. Why didn't you come to me for help after you had to start dealing with Fisk? You know I've dealt with his type before."

She doesn't argue. Eleanor is aware that doing so would be like wasting her breath when it comes to Alfred and his high opinion on her. Instead, she simply leans her cheek into his touch, finding consolation on this affection that remains as strong as it always was.

But this conversation brings up such mixed emotions. In a way, she remembers so vividly those shared evenings, keeping each other warm or even talking into late hours of the night. Lazy or passionate kisses. Back in the day they used to know each other like the back of their own hands.

"I was -- I didn't want you to see what was happening. What Derek did." Alfred had always been so kind when it came to his opinion of Derek, but Eleanor had always had her doubts about it. Telling Alfred about her husband's risky business, how she feared they might lose it all...

"I was ashamed."

She had been and always would be a proud woman and as much as he is hurt that she didn't come for help he can understand why she didn't, after all he was similar. How many times had he taken on more than he could handle because of his pride? Of his desire to fix things himself and not allow others to carry the burden?

"He threatened to hurt Kate, didn't he?" Fisk he means and he rubs his thumb across her cheekbone. "That's what escalated things, wasn't it?"

Keeping her eyes shut, Eleanor still placed a small barrier between them, stil avoiding him. Of course, he wasn't judging her, rationally she had always known he wouldn't. But she couldn't see him, seeing her like this. And so she frowned, giving a curt little nod to his question.

"Right after Derek died. He had a huge debt, Fisk made himself clear." But Eleanor rose from their ashes, the company picked up, went back to what it used to be when Derek's father was alive. "I tried to end things now before Kate started working with me. To keep her out of it and safe."

Of course, her daughter had the ability to sniff danger, it seems. "Then she started snooping around with that Avenger and things got out of hand."

Alfred sighs and nods, "They do have a way of doing that."

He knows from first hand how quickly things can go bad, just look at the past few years with Bruce and Wayne Enterprises.

"Now that it's done and out in the open, do you feel some relief?"

"Part of me does. And very briefly, I feel like I used to before everything went down." Which doesn't last long, now in a place like this one. "It's hard, knowing that she knows the truth about me. I had grown so used to the lies I almost believed them myself."

She can't help it, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder, Feeling his chest against her own. "Alfred, when did we get so lost?"

He can't really give her an answer but he can give comfort so he wraps an arm around her shoulders and after a moment he speaks.

"Not that long ago I had Master Bruce ask me something very similar." He says slowly, thinking back about that day in the hospital when Bruce admitted that he had lost his way. "And I will tell you what I told him."

"The thing about being lost is that when you're in the thick of it, you feel as if you've got no where to go. No one there to help you. It's like you're lost in darkness."

He looks down at her, his eyes gentle and kind.

"Getting out of that darkness is hard but once you start trudging forward you will find a light. Your True North, and if you let that guide you then eventually you will come out of it."

Eleanor remembers a time long ago, laying naked in the bed of the shabby tiny apartment she was sharing with other students, and Alfred speaking with the same kind of wisdow. The wisdom of someone ahead of his own age, so calm. Speaking like someone who truly trusts that everything will fall in the right places and it's all going to be alright.

"That's such a wonderful advice for a boy with his life ahead of him," she states, trying to sound warm despite of her words.

"Did you find your light, Alfred?"

"I found it the moment I got to hold him." He says, his voice barely above a whisper. "The moment Martha put that tiny little babe in my arms, I knew I had found it."

He can still remember the feeling, how astonishing that such a tiny baby had managed to knock all the air out of him.

"I imagine you felt similar when you first held Kate."

Even if he can't see her face right now, he'll sure hear her smile. That little enthusiasm as she breaths out.

"Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about. It was the first thing that came to mind." That one moment when you know your life has shifted for good. "It's like you suddenly become aware that there's someone much more important than your own life."

"Exactly."

He knew she would understand, they were both parents after all and was there anything more full of light in their lives than their children?

"You have a daughter out there who while upset at you, still loves you. And misses you." He says as he gently leans his head against hers. "And wants to know you, the real you, Ellie."

Not the lies or front that Eleanor had put up in order to keep Kate safe, but the real woman that Alfred knew like the back of his hand. The fact that Kate had been so blown away by some of Alfred's stories about her proved that.

"Maybe some good can come of all of this in that you two can get to know one another on more equal terms."

This time she did not argue. Not simply because deep down she wanted to trust that he was right about how things would work out between her daughter and herself. But rather, because Eleanor knew Alfred was not the sort of person who sugarcoated things.

She knows him, she remembers a much more pessimistic man, but one who always spoke with honesty. His hair might have changed, not raven and without that curl she liked to play with as they laid together. But this is the same Alfred as always.

"If I get out of here," she reminds him.

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