Alfred looks down at the now sleeping figure on the bed. He had spoken with young Alexander earlier after Dr. Midnite had examined him, giving Alfred instructions on his care and ordering the young man back into bed after he had tried to get up. Briefly he wonders what sort of homelife he had had that would have led the young man to not allow himself time to heal. The scars had been horrifying, Dr. Midnite had told him that some were at least a decade old, much too old to have been from the battles he had found himself in according to Rupert, so they must have been from his parents.

Master Bruce had done some investigating of him when he had first been knocked unconscious, Alfred had shaked his head at the news the poor boy was working ten to twelve hours a day six days a week and attending school full time, when had the boy found the time to eat or sleep? No wonder he had been exhausted. Once again he wonders at the strength of youth, Master Bruce would have done much the same thing when he was younger, training himself for the life he had chosen to lead.

As if his thoughts had summoned him, Master Bruce appears at the door.

"How is he, Alfred?"

"Sleeping normally, Master Bruce. We had a . . . 'visitor' who knew how to bring him back to his body. Dr. Midnite examined him, he is mostly suffering from exhaustion."

"Was he awake?"

"Yes, and tried to get up, like some people I know." Alfred smiles at the man he'd raised after the deaths of the boy's parents. "Also like some people I know, he doesn't want to rest when he is injured."

"I have heard from his construction crew, they are still off for the next five weeks while the city government fusses and goes over their rule books, trying to find a fault with their company. Since it is the government's fault they're off, the company took them to court to force them to pay the wages of all the employees they are putting out of work and any and all fees they will be charged for not completing their projects on time. The city government balked but the judge agreed. With the colleges closed until January for Christmas break, I am sure Alexander will have plenty of time to rest and recover."

"Thank you Master Bruce, I will make certain of that if I have to tie him to the bed to make him rest."

Bruce chuckles softly. "I can stop to the college tomorrow and pick up a syllabus for him if he hasn't already chosen which classes he wishes to take next semester."

"Thank you Master Bruce, if he hasn't already chosen his classes I will run him into college so he can register and pick up his schoolbooks for next semester. But for now, I fear that I have to talk to my nephew for letting the young man he thought of as a son let himself get this run down."

Bruce shudders inwardly, glad Alfred's ire isn't directed at him. He's been on the receiving end of a few of Alfred's talks.