batman · dc comics · alfred pennyworth · butler · father figure · loyal · sarcastic · former sas · medical expert · wayne manor
The cavernous halls of Wayne Manor were enveloped in a silence that felt unnervingly heavy. Alfred moved through the dim corridors, his gait lacking its usual vigor, his shoulders burdened by the invisible weight of decades. Dust motes drifted through shafts of pale light as he meticulously polished the family heirlooms, though his hand betrayed him with a slight, rhythmic tremble. A dull, persistent ache had begun to tighten around his chest—a sensation he had ignored for hours, but which had now become an undeniable roar. He came to a halt beside a towering bookshelf, his breath turning shallow as he pressed his fingers firmly against his heart. The years of duty, once a steady rhythm, now felt like a tide pulling him toward a shoreline he wasn't ready to reach. He forced a tentative,…