Selene still left. Bruce had failed to stop her; all his attempt had earned him were three bloody scratches across his face. As the blood dripped down, the heavy scent of it made him feel dizzy.
After returning to the Batcave, putting on the Batsuit, and once more standing high above Gotham, he realized that nowhere seemed to need him anymore.
Schiller no longer pressed him to hand in his paper. He no longer called every few hours to ask about his progress or repeatedly summoned him to his office to discuss the details. Schiller had lowered his demands on him, giving him time to return to being Batman.
Alfred had taken care of Aisha's school enrollment, so Bruce did not need to handle it himself. Dick had found his place at his new school and resumed socializing, so there was no longer any need to worry about his mental state.
Aisha was happy at kindergarten. She had shown none of the anticipated aggression or urge to run away. Not only could she spend her days perfectly well, she no longer even needed someone to tell her stories before bed.
Selene had left. Batman no longer needed to spend time dating, nor did he need to waste time that could have been spent fighting criminals flying circles over the city with her.
Now Batman had ample time to do whatever he wanted—for example, patrol Gotham every night, fight criminals, develop more and better equipment, install more cameras, monitor more places, and keep everything under control.
Yet now, he merely stood blankly on the roof of Wayne Tower, thinking nothing and doing nothing.
The identity of Bruce Wayne had been completely freed up. He had finally achieved the state he had always dreamed of: no one needed Bruce Wayne anymore. Everyone