Work Text:
Alfred was elbows deep in soapy water when he was interrupted by a knock at the kitchen entrance. He turned and saw Jasmine Fenton standing in the doorway, smiling sheepishly with her knuckles resting against door frame. He immediately reached for the towel he kept nearby. "Miss Fenton, give me one moment and I'll be more than willing to assist you."
Hovering by the kitchen door she said, "Actually I was wondering if you needed any help, everyone else just went downstairs."
He knew she meant the Batcave and wasn't surprised she had chosen to stay back rather than join them. Alfred finished drying his hands and turned to give her his full attention. "If you need some quiet I can guide you to the library or theater. There's no need to trouble yourself on my account."
"It's no trouble at all really, I'd much rather be helpful than sitting around." Without waiting for his permission she picked up a dish and began drying it.
Alfred could see she was being diligent about the task and treating the fragile tableware with care so he allowed it. Speaking cordially he said, "Well I won't stop you in that case."
They worked together to clean the large collection of dirty dishes, Alfred directing her as needed on where to place the clean dishes. It was about five minutes into the work before Jasmine asked, "Do you really clean this many dishes every day?"
Alfred laughed good-naturedly at the question. "No not at all. As much as I would love to spend all my time in the kitchen there are too few hours in the day and too much to get done. We have a kitchen staff who stop by the manor to assist with most of the day to day. However, whenever we have the chance for a family dinner I always do all the cooking myself."
Jasmine smiled, "That's sweet of you, I'm sure they all taste the love and effort you put into it."
"It's why I do it. One of the many little ways I've found to show I care." They talked about the meal in detail, Alfred sharing the tricks he knew to make the ingredients shine to their best. Jasmine listening attentively and bemoaning that she should be writing all this down. Alfred offered to sit with her and talk with her at length about cooking or whatever else she wanted. She thanked him, and he could see as she braced herself to voice the thoughts she'd been holding back since she walked into the room.
"You help them all with their, um, hero stuff too, right?"
"Yes quite often. Among other things I have a small amount of medical knowledge and will sometimes step in to coordinate and dispatch when there's wide spread trouble."
Jasmine spent some time drying the next few dishes and mulling over her next words. When she let them out they were nearly a whisper, "Is it ever too much? All the fighting and watching everyone get hurt? Not knowing if they'll come back?"
Alfred didn't pause in his own work as he considered the young woman. Her brother, Daniel, had gotten himself tangled with Gotham's ghosts and consequently its vigilantes in the past year. Her unexpected arrival was a recent development and something both her and her brother had balked at. Necessity had won over caution in the end and she'd arrived in Gotham to help her brother. She'd been here one month and had one more month until she could leave the city while maintaining the cover story they'd concocted for her arrival. During her time in Gotham she'd meshed well with everyone's civilian identities, but always separated herself from the family's vigilante work as much as possible, even when her brother was involved. It was a boundary that had been commented on outside of her earshot, but otherwise respected.
He returned her honest vulnerability with honesty of his own. "Yes, quite often."
Silence sat heavy between them. Jasmine was the one who broke it, voice still quiet, "When I first found out about Danny's powers I made it my job to protect him. I mean, I'm his big sister after all, what else was I supposed to do? And when he finally knew that I knew I started following him out to his fights to support him, problem was that I wasn't very good at it. My aim wasn't very good, I've got two left feet, and the only first aid training I had at the time was my CPR certificate from my lifeguard job. Honestly it's a miracle none of us died, but," she paused in her drying to press a hand to her temple, "I got hurt pretty bad."
Alfred had stopped his own cleaning as well, and he could see the frustration forming in her brow. "I honestly don't remember it that well. We blew up some wall and we didn't realize just how far the debris could fly. Apparently a huge chunk hit me in the head, and next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital. I know there were multiple people in the room, but the only thing I remember seeing is Danny crying."
"It must have been quite terrifying for the both of you."
"It was, but that wasn't the end of it. I was on strict bed rest, then stuck in the house for months after while I recovered. I was supposed to start college but instead my entire life was on hold for almost a year while I recovered. I couldn't even study because of how it affected my eyesight and memory, then I'd get so frustrated I'd start crying because apparently I couldn't control my emotions any more either." Tears were forming in corners of her eyes at the memory but she quickly wiped them away. "I tried to hide but I'm know Danny saw me a few times."
"I'm sorry the both of you had to suffer through that."
"Thank you." She started drying the dishes again and Alfred followed her lead, keeping their hands busy as she talked. "I got better so it's all moot now, but that time where I couldn't help Danny made me realize I didn't want to be always caught up in ghost problems, and I realized I could have a life of my own that wasn't tied to his or our parents, and he didn't want me there either. It was dangerous, and we'd barely gotten lucky once. The doctor said I was beyond lucky I didn't die or turn into a vegetable.
"We used to argue about ghosts problems all the time, but so most of our fights stopped after I stopped getting involved in ghost problems. We even got closer because of it. After I moved out for college he'd still call me for help with his homework or invite me to play games online with him after he learned a friend got me into a few. Me having my own life was good for both of us." She had started to smile at the memories but Alfred watched it fade away. "Then I came here and I can't help but wonder if I should have tried harder. None of you have powers like Danny, but you're still heroes risking your lives, fighting beside him, and I can't help but feel I gave up too easily."
Alfred passed her another dish to dry and asked, "Did you know I used to be a solider?"
Jasmine blinked at him in surprise. "No."
"Yes, I was rather competent too. However as I got older I found it wasn't to my taste and left it to pursue an acting career instead, until circumstances led me here. Duty kept me here long past when I thought I'd stay, and it was certainly not my idea for those under my care to take to the streets at night as a crowd of vigilantes risking their lives." His tone was wry and Jasmine laughed at how he laid out the absurdity of his situation. He smiled and passed her the last of the dishes to dry. "You'll notice I didn't join them in their cave tonight either. Of course I do help on occasion when my advice or skills or needed, but my priority is the Manor above. Maintaining it a home they can come to for respite and not to always skulk in the shadows. I think you do the same for your brother."
With the dishes done he gestured for Jazz to take a seat at the small island in the kitchen as he put the kettle on to prepare them some tea. She did, watching carefully as he talked and prepped the tea. "I've seen how Master Daniel's dual nature creates additional complications to his life, but in the short time I've seen the two of you together I also see how much he cherishes you. I think you remind him to nurture his humanity as well." She blushed and looked away while Alfred continued, "You should be proud of forging the path you wanted for yourself even if it was in opposition to the life you'd known.
"Besides, who's to say what happens next. Perhaps you'll suddenly be inspired to craft your own colorful costume, or you'll find a balance like myself, or perhaps you'll choose to follow your own path and we'll all find ourselves dragged into your wake instead." He poured the hot water into the tea and set a timer. "The future is always an uncertain thing, and you'll find yourself there before you know it, and I believe you are more than capable for whatever it throws at you."