Chapter 355
The next morning, Batman stood at the door of 20 Forest Hills Drive with a bouquet of fresh flowers in hand.
Aunt May opened the door, her hair tied back in a headscarf, and accepted the flowers with a practiced mix of protest and pleasure. "You don't need to bring flowers every time you visit," she said, even as she brought them to her nose to inhale their fragrance. "I'm an old woman now. These are better suited for young girls."
"If Uncle Ben could hear you say that, he wouldn't be happy," Batman replied, his face lighting up with a youthful, vibrant smile that bore no resemblance to the madman who'd threatened to bombard the moon with nuclear weapons just hours earlier. "In his eyes, and in Peter's, and even in mine—you've always been young."
"You're such a child." Aunt May reached out and swatted his arm with mock indignation, though her smile never wavered.
Batman didn't dodge. Instead, he offered his arm for her to take, and the two of them set off on a leisurely morning walk, the sun warm on their faces.
Forest Hills had undergone dramatic transformation under Batman's careful investment. What had once been an unremarkable working-class neighborhood now rivaled premium communities, complete with manicured landscaping, state-of-the-art security systems, accessible medical facilities, and shopping that could satisfy nearly every daily need.
Flower beds lined the sidewalks. Mature trees provided generous shade, beneath which children played and laughed. The community featured a substantial park that functioned almost as a miniature recreation center, its lawns dotted with residents enjoying the morning. In one corner, an elderly Chinese man moved through the slow, deliberate forms of tai chi.
As Aunt May walked with her arm linked through Batman's, neighbors constantly greeted her—children and seniors alike. Occasionally, someone would ask about the well-dressed young man at her side, his bearing and features both notably striking.
Each time, Aunt May would introduce her nephew with undisguised pride.
They eventually made their way to the artificial lake at the heart of Forest Hills, where the foot traffic thinned considerably. Here, with relative privacy, Aunt May suddenly asked, "You still haven't told me your real name, child."
"Thomas Pennyworth," Batman answered.
He would never tell Aunt May his true name—Bruce Wayne. He didn't even dare use his father's name, Thomas Wayne, as his cover identity.
Thomas came from his father. Pennyworth came from Alfred. This was Batman's new civilian identity in Aunt May's presence.
"Thomas." Aunt May repeated the name twice, as if committing it to permanent memory.
And indeed she was. In Aunt May's heart, Thomas Pennyworth had become her second nephew as completely as Peter himself. She had no intention of forgetting her own child's name.
"Thomas, what did you do before all this?" Aunt May asked, tightening her grip on his arm in that conversational way of hers. "You used Peter's name to establish that entire corporation. You gave this old woman quite a shock, I'll have you know. You owe me compensation for that."
"Before?" A rapid succession of images flashed through Batman's mind—monsters, sorcerers, dark gods, all defeated by his hand over the years. He smiled at Aunt May. "I was a businessman. What kind of compensation would you like, Aunt May?"
"Dinner tonight, of course, you silly boy." Aunt May looked at him with affection, seeing only Peter's face on this person who called himself Thomas Pennyworth.
"Done. I'll spend the entire day with you," Batman said with such earnest gravity that Aunt May couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.
When her laughter subsided, she began her curious interrogation in earnest.
"How tall were you before?"
"Six foot two, Aunt May."
"Quite a bit taller than Peter. And your weight? I see so many businessmen on television with those big bellies. If you're like that, I'll have to personally supervise your diet."
"I've always been health-conscious, Aunt May. I typically weigh around two hundred ten pounds."
"Forest Hills keeps getting nicer. You've been quietly working behind the scenes, haven't you?"
"I thought I'd hidden my involvement well enough, but you saw right through me, Aunt May."
"Please, Thomas. You bought the house at number twenty and started driving me around in that fancy car right around the same time the neighborhood improvements began. Your aunt may be old, but she doesn't have dementia yet."
"My little cleverness is no match for a woman as smart and beautiful as you, Aunt May."
"Naturally, my sweet Thomas."
From sunrise to sunset, Batman remained at Aunt May's side.
He stayed through the dinner she prepared herself, remaining until she drifted off to sleep. Only then did he slip out of the house at number twenty.
But he didn't drive directly back to the Batcave. Instead, he concealed himself in the shadows near the residence, maintaining focused vigilance for several more hours before finally departing.
Batman did this because even though Forest Hills' security and surveillance network provided excellent protection, he refused to take chances. He would not permit even the slightest accident when it came to safeguarding Aunt May.
When he finally returned to the Batcave, Venom Robin was frantically shoveling chocolate into his mouth at a rate of three kilograms per bite. Black Widow sat in the corner, knees drawn up, wearing the metal mask.
Seeing Batman return, Venom Robin immediately straightened up, pretending he hadn't been gorging on chocolate at all. Black Widow heard the footsteps and fumbled to her feet.
"Batman, how long are you going to keep me locked up like this?"
She'd repeatedly tried to remove the mask, but every attempt showed her the images buried deepest in her psyche—the things she feared most. Eventually she'd been forced to accept that the mask wouldn't come off.
But even so, Black Widow had never given up.
She'd painstakingly pieced together clues from fragments about Ant-Man, Batman, and a dozen other scattered details, finally deducing that SHIELD's assignment was for her to stay close to Batman while Hawkeye Clint Barton coordinated from outside, the two of them working together to arrest him.
Blindfolded like this, Black Widow could gather frustratingly little intelligence about Batman. She couldn't even tell when he was present and when he'd left.
'I have to find a way to remove this mask and force Batman to stop these damned hallucinations,' Black Widow thought with determination. 'Or I need to face my fears directly and overcome them completely.'
Batman glanced at Black Widow. He gave Venom Robin a subtle nod indicating silence, then stepped forward and took Black Widow's hand.
Black Widow's pulse quickened. The moment she felt Batman's grip on her wrist, she shifted her weight forward with practiced ease, leaning against him as though every bone in her body had dissolved.
Venom Robin stuck out his tongue with an exaggerated gagging expression.
Batman showed no surprise at Black Widow's behavior. He let her press against him, then produced a pair of metal handcuffs.
The cuffs clicked around Black Widow's wrists. A flash of genuine confusion crossed her face, but her voice became even more sultry: "Oh, so you like it this way?"
Batman glanced at the metal mask concealing Black Widow's features, then activated his encrypted communications to contact another SHIELD agent.
"Clint. Meet me at the top of the Empire State Building."
***
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