An alternate universe story: What if Bruce Wayne never became Batman? Bruce Wayne is a bitter man, hating the world for the death of his wife and parents. Can his old friend and business partner Lucius Fox change his heart?

A Bat Christmas Carol

With Great Respect for Charles Dickens

By

Prologue: Lucius Fox Was Dead

Lucius Fox collapsed at his desk and didn't rise, again.

"Lucius? Lucius, we have accounts that need collecting on, there's no time for napping."

Lucius didn't answer. He couldn't. The pen in his hand fell then rolled onto the floor.

Bruce Wayne got up from his desk and crossed the room and placed his hand on Lucius Fox's shoulder, meant on shaking the man awake, but he suddenly froze when he felt the man's body. It was cold as ice, cold as the winter chill that blew through the drafty office, cold as the grave. For all Bruce knew, Lucius had not moved for hours in his chair, his hand poised, ready to make notes about their latest accounts, until he fell over. His head landing on the desk with a sudden thump was what had caught Bruce Wayne's attention.

Bruce Wayne frowned at this latest setback. His heart ached, but he dismissed it. He had known Lucius for many years. He could be considered his only friend in the world, but in truth he really didn't know Lucius at all, aside from being a good man of business. Even so, this was going to be inconvenient. To have a dead man sitting at a desk may scare their clients into paying their accounts, but the smell would eventually stink up the office as the man would start to decay. And in this time, there was only one way to contact a mortician to take the man's body away and bury him. He was going to have to leave the office and head out into that throng of people who were preparing for that retched holiday. It could not be helped. It was a necessary duty that had to be done. At least next year there would be no need. He could continue his work in peace.

Within two hours, Lucius Fox's body was collected, the mortician waiting outside. Bruce Wayne had to fight off a small throng of people who had gathered at his door.

"What happened?"

"He died," Bruce Wayne answered. "That is all that happened."

"May I help?" a fresh young face asked. He was no more than a teenager, thin of face and slender in body, an athletic type who might have been one of those performers who beg for money. And yet the boy wasn't begging for money, he was asking to help, which was a rare thing these days.

"Can you write?"

"Yes," the teen said. "My parents made sure I had a good education, until they died."

"Be here tomorrow and I will give you a job. I need a clerk."

"Tomorrow? It's Christmas Day."

Bruce Wayne frowned. "That's not my problem. You want the job or not."

"Yes, Sir."

"Then be here the day after, and don't be late."

"Yes, Sir! Thank you, Sir!"

Bruce Wayne watched the teen run off, his thoughts suddenly becoming dark. 'Why did I give that boy a job? He's going to expect to be paid. Maybe I can pay him as little as possible. At least he doesn't have any family to attend to.'

"We need to take his body to the cemetery to be buried, Mr. Wayne," the mortician said as he continued to wait for Mr. Wayne to make a decision on what to do. "Who will pay for the headstone?"

"I want his body cremated and his ashes scattered," Bruce Wayne said. "Burial is expensive."

"There is a place for cremated remains," the mortician volunteered.

"I said scatter his ashes, that costs nothing." Bruce Wayne handed the mortician the exact amount for the cremation. "Here is your fee. You can reuse that coffin."

"Yes, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce Wayne went back into the office and went back to work. 'Inconvenient, damned inconvenient.'

With Lucius gone, there didn't seem to be any point to it. He didn't want to admit it, but Lucius had been the driving force for Wayne Enterprise's success. Now it was up to him, and Bruce Wayne wasn't looking forward to it. Not only that, he had been left to raise a son alone, a son he no longer knew since the death of his wife. He could no longer bear to see the boy's face.

'I'll send him to his Grandfather,' Bruce Wayne thought. 'It's time that boy faced reality. Maybe he can teach him that.'

Continues with Part 1: A Bitter Man