RP With Eleanor Bishop

[flippin_peachy]

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.

Comments

[flippin_peachy]

"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."

[hawk_shot]

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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"You will." He insists, giving her a gentle squeeze that feels a bit like a promise. "It might take a bit and there will be consequences of you being in here but you will be free."

He pauses, shifting so he can look down at her.

"Do you have any information about Fisk and other criminal syndicates he was involved with? Something he said or shared that could be used as leverage?"

[hawk_shot]

She knows she will, she has one of the best lawyers money can buy working on her case. Ruthless, capable of getting out much worse criminals than she is. Her case was already steering towards showing she had been a terrified widower, a mother worrying about her child's safety.

Everything Alfred saw in her.

"I do. About him, about the russians working with him too," but Eleanor was unsure about using that card, if she should keep it under her sleeve in case Fisk got out. What if he paid the right person who'd be at the right time alone with her? "I have some documents saved at home. Just in case."

Just in case it came to this.

[flippin_peachy]

He can't help but huff a small laugh, "Course you do. You always were so clever."

Clever and a tiny bit paranoid, just like him.

"I'll let you deal with your case as you see fit but you know if you need any extra digging done who to call."

Mainly him, just in case she needs extra to help sway the odds in her favor.

"I had an idea about Kate, though."

[hawk_shot]

"I will," she agreed, feeling a bit more like herself.

Sitting up straighter, Eleanor picked her tea cup before her drink goes cold. When will it be her next time to have actual tea instead of that dirty water they offer her in this place? Leave it to Alfred to fix that.

"About Kate? What do you mean?"

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He lets go of her, shifting away a bit to give her room to drink her tea and regain her usual demeanor.

"I had an idea about how you two could maybe start to mend things."

He knows Kate isn't going to visit her mother, not when she's still so upset at her, but that doesn't mean there can't be contact.

"It might seem a bit old fashioned but I was thinking you could write to her." He suggests, "It takes some of the pressure off both of you. She can read them in her own time and reply similarly."

Plus it gives both of them some space and the chance to re-write things if at first they write out things that are too painful and upsetting.

[hawk_shot]

Alfred has a point. Not only that would take the pressure of time, of the need of an immediate response as the clock tics and their time of the visit grows shorter. Kate has also inherited her mother's temper. Pressure is definitely not on their side if they want to mend things.

"You always were the best when it came to planning out things." Eleanor comments after taking a sip of tea. She tucks her hair behind her ear then, her usually perfect bob looked a little unkept these days.

At least in some ways she looked a little closer to the girl who had once met him for the very first time.

"Very well. But you'll have to bring them and take them yourself."

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"Oh what a hardship that will be." He teases her, giving her the same little smirk he used to when they were young.

"Having to visit you more often? I honestly don't know how I'll manage...."

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"I know, what a terrible torture," she joked, sounding calm and collected, pretending most of her attention was focused on her drink.

But her little smile spoke for itself.

"You know, you're probably the one man I've ever truly trusted in my life. Even more than Derek."

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That little Mona Lisa smile of hers, so subtle that if you didn't catch it you'd think she was ignoring you. But he knows better.

"I'm honored to have that trust." Truly he is and he will never betray it.

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"I never stopped--"

And yet, she thinks it twice before she speaks too much. Yes, she might have a firey temper like Kate does, but Eleanor knows when to bite her tongue before she speaks too much."

"I never stopped caring about you, my dear friend."

At least that smile is less subtle now. Closer, to what it once was back when Eleanor had no reasons to censor herself.

[flippin_peachy]

That slight hitch in her sentence feels like a hand squeezing his heart and he reaches over to brush back a lock of her hair.

"Nor I you, Ellie."

Nor will he ever give up on her, even if she gives up on herself he will be there to help pull her out of it.

[hawk_shot]

For a moment, there's a brief peek at the sadness she once felt, how heartbroken she had felt stepping into the airport, ready to take that flight back home. It was a feeling that always caught up with her whenever she remembered those days.

Back then she had told herself, she had told Alfred himself that she would come back to visit soon. It would only take a few months. But those months grew longer and she met Derek soon after. Then she became a mom. Some years later, her visits were reduced to days, only enough time to take care of business.

"I'm sorry I didn't visit more often."

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"I'm sorry I didn't either."

Because it wasn't all on her, he could have come over to visit as well. But the sad fact was that they both had lives to live and while he had missed her terribly there were points in his that he was glad she wasn't around to see. Dangerous parts where he slept better knowing she was safe in America with a man who up until now he thought wouldn't ever get her involved in some of the dangers he dealt with.

"I always knew you were there though." He says softly, "Being on the other side of the world doesn't change that."

[hawk_shot]

"Under the same stars," she repeats the quote they once shared, decades ago, to try and make the sour taste of being apart a little more manageable. Now, Eleanor thought of those words with a sense of innocence she feels is long gone for her, wondering if Alfred feels the same way.

In a way, they had both been idealists back in the day.

"It's strange, how things can change so much over the years while others remain the same." Feelings, for instance.

She is well aware of why he is helping her, why he still hopes the Eleanor he once loved is not completely lost. Eleanor herself wonders about that sometimes. Is she still, somehow, still there?

[flippin_peachy]

"Yes, under the same stars." He echoes softly, thinking back about the same memories that she is. They weren't just empty words though, there were many times after she had left London that he would sit and stare up at the night's sky and think of her.

"Strange but comforting sometimes."

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She can't help herself. The chains of her cuffs rattle as Eleanor reaches up to caress his cheek, same as she's done it so many times before, so many years ago.

"Do you ever wonder... What if things had worked out differently between us?"

Does she have any regrets? No. Not completely. The path she took gave Eleanor the most precious person in her life: her daughter.

But things could have been different if she had indeed reached out earlier.

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He places his hand over hers, keeping it in place against his cheek. Even in prison her hands are warm and welcome against his skin.

"Course I have."

Many times, but much like her he has no regrets. Not when she has been blessed with a daughter and he a son.

"Have you?"

[hawk_shot]

Eleanor's thumb traces his cheekbone. The little lines that are now there but weren't before. They give him character, are testimony of the many laughs and frowns over the years, of a well lived life.

A life she sometimes wished they had shared.

"Sometimes," she confesses. "Sometimes I think nobody has ever understood me like you do."

And this is proof of that. Even at her lowest, Alfred is here by her side.

[flippin_peachy]

Those lines crease up against her fingers as a warm smile spreads across his face, "To be fair I have known you longer than most."

A pause as that smile creeps up into something a little more sly, "And I've seen you pull some stunts that nobody would believe. Remember that time you hot wired that cherry red Ferrari in London?"

[hawk_shot]

Her hand turns to clasp Alfred's as a heartfelt laugh escapes her lips. Goodness, when was the last time she actually laughed? It feels like forever.

"Well, what's a girl supposed to do? I never thought I'd hate the chance to sit in one again. Let alone drive one." She squeezed his hand, her smile showing a little slyness of her own. "Besides, it's not like you were an angel yourself. Remember when you pretended to be the owner of that club, kicked those rich kids out and then took their bottles?"

[flippin_peachy]

The sound of her laugh fills his heart up with warmth and he laces his fingers through hers.

"Driving isn't the only thing you wanted to do in that car." He adds before chuckling and offering her a little shrug. "And to be fair, those rich plonkers deserved it. They were mistreating the staff and acting rude to everyone."

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"And doing it was divine," Eleanor agrees, leaning in as she emphasizes that last word. She still remembers their awkward fumbling, climbing and moving around. Perhaps a few unintended elbowing involved. But it was some of the best sex, certainly the most fun she's ever had.

"I wonder how long it took them to notice that stain."

[flippin_peachy]

Her comment catches him off guard and he erupts with laughter.

"You cheeky minx." He says and impulsively leans in to kiss her cheek.