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Post by Alfred Pennyworth on Aug 12, 2013 3:16:23 GMT
A cold shock settled over Alfred. He was a father? How was that even possible? Well, he knew how it was possible. He'd been involved with Marie it was true. But he'd heard nothing. Surely she would have contacted him to say they had a child if that was the case. But why would this woman lie? How would she even know about Marie? Would she really bother to dig through Alfred's past to try and scam him or Master Wayne? Almost no one even knew about his involvement with Marie to begin with. Alfred helplessly looked to Master Wayne for guidance. He didn't know what to say, what to do. Even if he did know what to say he doubted he could properly control his tongue so profound was his shock.
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 12, 2013 3:19:49 GMT
Bruce looked back at Alfred, unable to give him any help. He looked at Julia, "Do you have proof?" he decided to ask. That's all he could do.
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Post by Julia Remarque on Aug 12, 2013 3:35:58 GMT
Julia was relieved when Mr. Wayne spoke to her. She didn't want to appear insecure so she had continued to keep her eyes locked on Alfred's as he absorbed the news. It was painful to watch. It was clear he was surprised beyond belief. At least he hadn't outright denied her claim. Still, she was grateful to shift her attention to Mr. Wayne. He was stunned as well but at least the power of speech hadn't completely abandoned him.
"I have no direct proof," she admitted. She reached into her pocket. "Just a letter I finally found in my adoptive father's possession." She nearly spat the words adoptive father. He had forbidden her from researching her parents. She had finally found documentation of her birth, verifying that Mademoiselle Marie was her mother. There was no record of her father. After poking and prodding around after the murder of Jacques she had found a letter from her mother hidden away. A letter? It barely counted as that. It was far too short.
"Dear Julia,
I won't ask for your forgiveness. I don't doubt that you'll believe I abandoned you. I won't deny it. I couldn't abandon my work and it was too dangerous to drag a child into. Instead I abandoned you. I entrusted you in the care of Jacques Remarque. He has been a good friend for some time. I hope to meet you myself one day but in case that proves impossible I at least want you to know the name of your father. It's Alfred Pennyworth. I hope you can at least meet him one day.
Your mother,
Marie," Julia read out loud.
Yup. That was the crappy letter she got after 25 odd years.
Julia walked over to Alfred, set the letter before him and sat back down in her seat. "You'd know better than me if that's her handwriting," she said calmly.
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Post by Alfred Pennyworth on Aug 12, 2013 3:42:09 GMT
Alfred was somewhat horrified at brusqueness of the letter but he couldn't deny that it sounded like something Marie would write. She was always blunt to a fault. She wasn't poetic and she never minced words. He studied the letter that was placed in front of him. It was true that he hadn't seen Marie in over 25 years but he had a good memory and he had read her writing a lot in the days of the resistance. As a former intelligence officer he was pretty good at picking up forgery.
"It looks like her handwriting," he acknowledged with absolutely no emotion. He was still in shock. He looked back to Mr. Wayne, at a loss for words.
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 12, 2013 3:44:11 GMT
Bruce met Alfred's gaze and licked his lips, then shook his head, "I don't know what you want me to say," he told his faithful butler. "If you believe it's her writing, and that it's the truth...then congratulations," he told Alfred, looking to Julia, "I guess you have a daughter now..."
This was getting to the point of going beyond words. Bruce almost had nothing to say, just trying to focus, trying to process this. He was just trying to pick out any words that wouldn't leave him, that Alfred might appreciate, but Bruce didn't know if any of it would actually help.
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Post by Julia Remarque on Aug 12, 2013 3:52:50 GMT
Congratulations?! Really?! Julia felt sick. It wasn't anything to be congratulating someone over! Alfred had just inherited a world of trouble if he accepted Julia. Even if he wanted a daughter he was too late to be involved with her childhood. She was a woman now not a little girl.
"Look. I'm really sorry. I truly am. I wouldn't have come here unless I was desperate but I am. My mother's dead and Alfred Pennyworth's the only potential blood relation I have. I'll take a DNA test if you want but really..I just need help. If you'll help me I don't care if you accept that I'm your daughter or not. If you won't help me it doesn't matter either," she said in a rush.
"I really really really didn't want to force my way into either of your lives like this. But I'm in trouble. Big big trouble." Again the words were spoken in a calm tone but the panic was obvious.
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Post by Alfred Pennyworth on Aug 12, 2013 4:02:00 GMT
Alfred was good in a crisis and this girl, likely his daughter as shocking as that was, was in trouble. It was his responsibility to listen to her story and see what could be done to help if he deemed she was telling the truth. He pulled himself together and stared calmly back at Julia.
"I'm sorry if I'm not taking this quite as well as you would have hoped. It's just a rather big shock is all. But please explain just what kind of trouble you are in. What kind of help do you need?"
Alfred turned back to Master Wayne. "As I was your legal guardian Master Wayne, I suppose a congratulations is in order for you as well. Congratulations on your little sister," he teased. He smirked. "I think it would be good for you to have a sibling or two. Maybe then you'd be less spoiled and learn to share."
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 12, 2013 4:04:50 GMT
All Bruce could do was give a bit of a laugh, "I'm a grown man, Alfred. I don't need siblings like that."
Well, at least Alfred seemed to be taking it well. That put Bruce at ease on some level. He was still worried about how the whole thing might yet go, but at least Alfred was able to make jokes about it.
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Post by Julia Remarque on Aug 12, 2013 4:21:08 GMT
Julia looked first at her father then at Mr. Wayne. How could they joke about this?! How could they say congratulations?! She was dropping a bombshell in their perfectly ordered lives and they could laugh even if it was tense?!
She tried to take it all in stride. She was supposed to explain more but...Yeah...How the hell did she go about it?
She clapped her hands together. "Okay. Long story short I want to escape the criminal underworld. I've been used to deliver messages and drugs to unsavory people basically as long as I could walk and follow directions. I've made and constructed poisons to take care of rivals. They've also been used as tools to loosen people's tongues when they were being interrogated. As much as I love playing with poisons and antidotes I hate them being used that way. I've jumped ship, left France and come here. But there are several problems with that. One, I have a LOT and I mean a LOT of enemies thanks to my adoptive father. And he's dead now so I no longer have his protection. I'm not being shielded. I didn't inherit any of his funds so I'm broke. I have nothing but what's in these two suit cases," she explained as best as she could.
"And two..Well Jacques Remarque, my adoptive father had a legitimate son. He knows all about me and how useful I've been to his father. I don't know if he'll be fine with just letting me go. So yeah...I'm really really screwed."
"Oh and I bought this ticket to Gotham city with the name Julia Remarque so super easy to track and if Jacques' heir doesn't know about why I'm in Gotham city it shouldn't be that hard to put the pieces together and figure out that I came to you. So again...I'm really really screwed."
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Post by Alfred Pennyworth on Aug 12, 2013 4:34:50 GMT
Alfred's eyes sparkled with playful mirth. "It's not too late Master Wayne! You're a difficult case but I still believe with the proper insentive you can be taught to share!" he jested.
He gazed at Julia, his daughter, with deep concern as she explained her predicament. It turned out Marie had very poor taste in friends. Poor Julia. Her father had passed away? Did he die naturally or did Julia have a hand in all this? If she really was involved in the underworld from such a young age he didn't doubt her ability to kill him. But he supposed that wasn't the point of the story. He could fathom that issue later. The point was that his daughter, and he did surprisingly enough find himself trusting the stranger, was in trouble. He needed to help her sort out her affairs.
He turned to Bruce. "Master Wayne, you told me before that you trusted her. Do you still find her words believable?" he questioned. He did. The affair few people knew of, the letter that was written with her nearly offensive brusqueness in something that at the very least closely resembled her handwriting, it all pointed to the sincerity of her statements. Perhaps Julia and Alfred should be given a DNA test for verification purposes but for the moment he had no deep reason to doubt her. In which case he had to help her. But this matter didn't only affect him. Master Wayne was involved as well. He needed to hear that he accepted Julia's words as fact as well.
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 12, 2013 4:38:32 GMT
He looked to Alfred, his eyes showing that he held no doubts. He was being completely upfront and truthful with Alfred when he said that he trusted her. "Alfred, she's done nothing to make me feel otherwise." He looked at her as he continued to speak, "I believe her completely. I don't see why she'd be lying. I don't see any deception, only truth, only unbridled emotions."
He rose from his chair and walked towards where she sat. "Julia, if you want a DNA test, I will arrange it. If not, well, that's not up to me." He extended a hand towards her, "But I believe you, with or without a test. As a kind of pseud-brother to you now, I give you welcome to Wayne Manor."
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Post by Julia Remarque on Aug 12, 2013 4:50:55 GMT
She listened to her father and then to Mr. Wayne. Okay that was it. She'd snapped. She was hallucinating. The stress of everything had finally gotten to her. There was no way those complete strangers would accept her story so easily. They couldn't! Why would they? And even if they did why in the world were they agreeing to take her in?! Didn't they understand that people could be after her and they could get caught in the crossfire?! Why would they take that risk?!
Maybe she wasn't hallucinating. Maybe she was dreaming. But this couldn't be real! It couldn't!
She feigned confidence and shook his hand. Fake confidence was the default setting. You'd be eaten alive without it. She couldn't help but stare at Mr. Wayne quizzically though.
"Why? Why are you helping me?" she asked stunned. "I have no money to pay you with. I'm a complete liability. What benefit could you possibly gain from granting me asylum? Don't you understand...I'm in deep in the French underworld. I can't guarantee others won't try to hurt me and you if you're seen protecting me. Why do you even believe me? The story sounds nuts and lame even to me!"
"But I'll take a DNA test. You definitely shouldn't be risking your neck for me if I'm not even Alfred Pennyworth's daughter but I just...I don't understand!"
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Post by Alfred Pennyworth on Aug 12, 2013 4:57:47 GMT
Alfred simply smiled at Bruce. He let his gratitude shine through his eyes. The two of them had been together for many years and it was easy for them to communicate non-verbally, at least on a basic emotional level. Julia was his daughter. He believed that and as such he wanted to help her and protect her in the way he hadn't been able to in the past 25 years. He wondered why Marie hadn't contacted him directly. He would have been a much better father than this Remarque man. It was unfortunate but nothing could be done about it now. As for her predicament Alfred was confident that him and Batman could ensure her protection if anyone tried to bother her.
Alfred walked over to Bruce and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You see Julia, your spoiled older brother here owes me one or two favors," he teased. "Actually Master Wayne, when was the last time I asked you for anything?"
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Post by Bruce Wayne on Aug 12, 2013 14:08:01 GMT
"That would be a good question," he told Alfred, "I can't actually answer that one."
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Post by Julia Remarque on Aug 13, 2013 3:42:30 GMT
Julia simply stared between her father and her supposedly pseudo-brother. Did that mean she wasn't supposed to call him Mr. Wayne? Was she supposed to call him Bruce? And what about her biological father? Should she call him father? Dad? What? She supposed those questions could wait until later. She didn't want to only be a liability. Perhaps she could help them in some way.
"Mr. Wayne, Mr. Pennyworth, is there anything I could do to help you two? I'm a toxicologist. Yes, I've made poisons and antidotes but I can do more than make them. I'm very familiar with their structures. If someone has been poisoned if I run the proper tests I can tell by what. I'm also good at finding the people who can supply the necessary materials. I don't mean to insult either of you if I can't help. Honestly, I have no idea what Wayne industries even does. I was more focused on Mr. Remarque's business ventures in France."
Julia was an upfront person when the situation allowed. That had been very limited in the past but she hoped she'd have more opportunity in the future. She figured she could begin now.
"Also, what in the world am I supposed to call you two?" She first turned to Mr. Wayne. "Mr. Wayne? Bruce? Brucey? Mr. Billion Dollar Man?" She then turned to Alfred. "Mr. Pennyworth? Father? Dad? Sperm Donor? Mr. British Butler?"
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