Note: Batman was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and is owned by DC Comics.

Batman went to the Batcave. Christmas was coming up, but Batman wasn't in a pleasant mood. He was so obsessed with being the intimidating defender of Gotham that he often didn't have enough appreciation for happy events.

Batman started walking to his computer so he could do research on which villains needed to be captured. He faced Alfred Pennyworth and said, "I'm going to need you to take of the holiday planning this year."

Alfred wanted Batman to join in on celebrating Christmas so he said, "The Justice League's annual Christmas party is happening on Christmas Eve."

Batman grumpily said, "I skip those silly parties."

Alfred asked, "Haven't you and the Justice League been getting along?"

Batman answered, "Superman's too obsessed with being nice, Wonder Woman's a jerk, Flash is annoying, Green Lantern's a weakling, and Aquaman's a mediocre water boy."

Alfred replied, "A party has been scheduled at your house on Christmas. Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing will be there."

The thought of spending an entire day with his teammates made Batman feel sick in his stomach. He said, "I don't think that I should attend the party. I need to focus on getting the remaining villains."

Alfred sternly replied, "Spending Christmas with your loved ones is important."

Batman said, "Most of the superheroes take the day off on Christmas. I need to protect the world on that day."

Alfred asked, "Haven't all of the villains been sent to Arkham Asylum?"

Batman said, "There's one villain that I've never been able to send to Arkham Asylum." He was talking about Ra's al Ghul. Batman decided to take a trip to Ra's al Ghul's hideout so he could stop any evil schemes that he was planning on doing. Ra's al Ghul lived hundreds of miles away so Batman didn't know if he'd make it back to Gotham by Christmas time.

Batman went into one of his planes and started heading towards Ra's al Ghul's hideout. He wondered if he should let Talia al Ghul that he's coming. Talia had a crush on Batman, but she often helped her dad with his dangerous plans. Batman knew it would be a risk to tell her what's going on, but she was one of the few people that he trusted. He got out one of his cellphones and called Talia.

Talia al Ghul picked up the phone and said, "Greetings beloved."

Batman replied, "I'm coming to your father's hideout. I know that he always has a dangerous scheme planned so I'm going to bring him down."

Talia had a mischievous smile on her face while asking, "Why are you sharing this information with me? I could tell Dad about this and have you destroyed."

Batman had a smug smile on his face while replying, "I know that you would never lead me to my death. You respect both your family and me which is a problem. You shouldn't support your monstrous father. We could form a partnership and stop Ra's al Ghul from destroying more people."

Talia replied, "If any of the guards heard what we were talking about they'd tell my father and we'd both end up suffering his wrath."

Batman said, "Ra's al Ghul is an old fool. It's time for him to face the wrath of justice."

Talia thought about it for several minutes and said, "I'll help you if you spend the holidays with me."

Batman replied, "Okay." Talia got off the phone and started getting her gear ready.

A few days later Batman arrived near Ra's al Ghul's hideout. He and Talia agreed to meet at a small cave that was a few hundred feet away from Ra's al Ghul's hideout. They hoped that none of Ra's al Ghul's guards would see them, but Ra's al Ghul had guards all across the city.

Ubu walked into Ra's al Ghul's study room and said, "An interesting threat has appeared Master Ghul."

Ra's al Ghul asked, "Are you referring to my grandson's father?"

Ubu answered, "Yes, he and Talia met up at one of the caves. What course of action should we take?"

Ra's al Ghul said, "Have my best protectors get rid of Bruce."

Ubu asked, "What should we do about Talia?"

Ra's al Ghul coldly answered, "Find out if her true loyalty is to me or to Bruce. If she truly cares about me and the others save her at all costs, but if she fights against me and my plans then she no longer counts as a part of my family."

Batman and Talia started getting their weapons ready. Batman said, "We won't have time to talk about how things have been, until we defeat your father."

Talia replied, "It seems that you're aware of how many threats are around here."

Batman started looking around the area while saying, "I used a special hearing gadget to detect the footsteps of guards. They're aware that I'm here. They're sending people to take me down right now."

Talia confidently replied, "I think that you and I have what it takes to get rid of them."

Batman sternly said, "Remember that we can't destroy anybody. We'll just beat them up and send them to the authorities."

Talia replied, "Your softness could lead to your enemies defeating you."

Batman said, "Superman's the soft superhero."

Talia asked, "What are you?"

Batman answered, "I'm the knight of darkness."

Talia replied, "You're too sweet to a real vigilante."

Batman said, "I'm going to leave the cave and start attacking your father's guards."

Talia replied, "I'm coming with you. I'm a partner, not a sidekick."

Batman said, "Okay." Talia had always been treated like a sidekick by her father. Batman was the first person to truly respect her.

Batman and Talia left the cave and saw that there were several members of the League of Assassins. Over two dozen unnamed ninjas surrounded Batman and Talia.

Lady Shiva said, "Greetings Mr. Wayne."

Batman had his usual serious look on his face to hide his fear of Lady Shiva knowing his secret identity. He asked, "How did you find that out?"

Lady Shiva had a smug smile on her face while saying, "I earned Ra's al Ghul's trust. It's too bad that you waste your time antagonizing against the most dangerous leader in the world." She signaled to the ninjas to start attacking Batman.

Batman was confident about being able to stop the ninjas. He was so strong that he was able to break the one of the ninja's' sword in half. Batman punched a few ninjas in the face.

Batman looked around and saw that Talia had a gun. He grabbed it out of her hand and said, "I told you that I don't allow guns."

Talia replied, "You're being foolish. You can't win this battle without destroying your enemies."

Batman sternly said, "Killing is never the right thing to do. I'm going to use justice to win this fight."

Batman and Talia started using their fighting skills and various gadgets to beat up the ninjas.

Lady Shiva angrily said, "Two fighters shouldn't be enough to bring down Ra's al Ghul's most deadly group of ninjas."

Batman looked around and noticed that most of the ninjas had been defeated. He and Talia beat up a mostly equal amount of ninjas. He smiled and said, "I'm proud of you."

Talia replied, "It's comforting to have someone actually be proud of me."

Lady Shiva said, "Talia, stop defending your father's greatest enemy. Help me destroy him."

Talia shook her head and said, "My beloved is the only one who has true respect for me so I'm going to help him defeat you and the others."

Lady Shiva replied, "Then I have to get rid of you too." She got out her sword.

Batman signaled to Talia that the two of them would work together to defeat Lady Shiva. Lady Shiva had several fighting skills. She had the potential to defeat Batman or Talia if she fought them individually, but she struggled to fight both of them. Batman and Talia fought Lady Shiva for several minutes. After getting punched, kicked, and dealing with various batarangs, Lady Shiva passed out.

Batman and Talia headed to Ra's al Ghul's hideout. There were over two hundred guards, but they were hardly a challenge for Batman and Talia. They started attacking the guards.

Ubu nervously ran into Ra's al Ghul's study room and said, "Batman's in the hideout."

Ra's al Ghul replied, "The fact that he's gotten this close to me is unacceptable. Lady Shiva woke up from getting beaten up by Batman a few minutes ago. She told me that Talia's completely on Batman's side. Is Deathstroke nearby?"

Ubu said, "He arrived a few hours ago. He wants to get a holiday check from you."

Ra's al Ghul replied, "Have him get rid of both of them. I'll give him five million dollars if he can accomplish that."

Batman and Talia were having an easy time beating up the guards, but things got harder when Deathstroke burst into the hallway. He grabbed Batman and punched him into a wall. Batman asked, "How did he get here?"

Talia answered, "I'm afraid that my father's been hiring him to eliminate his enemies."

Batman cornered Deathstroke and said, "Bring it on."

Deathstroke got out his sword and replied, "I've heard about your recent sword breaking, but I assure that this sword can't be broken by bare hands." Batman threw a special batarang at the sword. The sword got broken in half. Deathstroke had a wide-eyed look on his face while asking, "How did you accomplish that?"

Batman answered, "I've been working on the strongest batarang ever."

Deathstroke kicked Batman to the ground. Talia stood in front of Batman, but she thought that Deathstroke wouldn't hurt her. However, he punched her. Talia folded her arms and said, "You have to respect your boss's daughter."

Deathstroke replied, "Your father wants me to get rid of you too." Talia was surprised to hear that. She realized that her father no longer considered her a part of the family.

Batman knew that Deathstroke's biggest redeeming quality was that he cared about his children. He hoped that he could manipulate him. He said, "You'd be a monster if you did this. Helping a father get rid of his daughter isn't okay. You're a father too so you understand this sort of thing."

Deathstroke replied, "Weak attempt to get me to stop. I'll buy my kids plenty of Christmas with the money I'll get from destroying you two." Talia pulled a bomb out of her coat and set the timer. She glued the bomb to the floor. Deathstroke saw the bomb and was scared. There was only ten minutes on the timer. He didn't know about the quickest ways to get out so it would take him a few minutes to get to the front door. He gave up on trying to destroy Batman and Talia so that he could get out of there in time.

Batman faced Talia and said, "That was a reckless thing to do."

Talia replied, "We don't have time to discuss moral values. We need to escape before the bomb gets rid of us."

Batman said, "Your father and his guards are in here. We have to warn them."

Talia folded her arms and replied, "I'm not risking my life for my father and his men. They don't deserve any of your heroic rescues."

Batman said, "Get out of the hideout. I'll save the others."

Talia sighed and replied, "Okay beloved."

Batman ran into Ra's al Ghul's study room and said, "This place is going to blow up in about eight minutes. Follow me."

Ra's al Ghul stubbornly replied, "I'd rather die with dignity than get an embarrassing rescue from you."

Batman said, "Your daughter and I defeated your team. Your dignity is in bad shape." Batman ran out.

Batman managed to get out of the hideout a few minutes before the bomb went off. He found Talia and offered her a hug, but she kissed him on the lips. Batman asked, "Do you think that Ra's al Ghul survived that?"

Talia answered, "He's dealt with tons of explosions. He's probably going to com back."

Batman said, "He won't be much of a threat since his team has been defeated. I'll always protect the world as long as he keeps giving me challenges."

Talia looked at Batman and asked, "Were you being honest about respecting me?"

Batman answered, "Yes, I've taken you and my friends for granted. Ra's al Ghul cared so much about his questionable plans of saving the world that he forgot about his family. I've been guilty of that too. I won't let myself become the monster that he became." He smiled at Talia and said, "Lets go to Wayne Manor and celebrate the holidays."

Talia said, "I love you."

Batman used to deny his feelings, but he didn't want to be like Ra's al Ghul so he said, "I love you too." Batman and Talia kissed each other and went into Batman's plane.

Talia asked, "What are we going to do?"

Batman answered, "Celebrate Christmas with my family."

Talia smiled and asked, "Don't you mean our family?"

Batman answered, "No offense, but you're rushing things."

Talia replied, "Since our son spends all of his time with Raven and the other Titans, we're the closest thing we have to family. Also, I don't have a real home since I left my father."

Batman said, "You can move in with me." Talia kissed Batman.

Batman said, "Don't kiss while I'm trying to fly the plane."

Talia smiled and replied, "You claim to be a dark knight, but you play things safe." Batman smiled back at Talia. She was one of the few people who truly understood Batman. He was incredibly thankful that she stopped being a antagonist. Batman finally started looking forward to Christmas.