The League finished their discussion of the mission they had just completed and retired to the lounge area of the Watchtower. Batman faded back behind the others, making sure he was the last one to leave. While the other members did various sundry things of making coffee and finding a television channel they could all agree on, he hung back in the swathe of shadows created by the door and the florescent light from the debriefing room.

Flash was busy being himself and doing his best to make Diana laugh, pantomiming something he had seen happen the day before. Diana looked like she couldn't decide whether to give in and laugh or to maintain her usual air of disdain for the speedster. Superman was trying to explain a commercial to J'onn, the Martian's brow furrowed in puzzlement. And then over in the corner near the fridge, Green Lantern was making a sandwich. Shayera was standing next to him, the two of them carefully not touching, but it didn't take much to be able to see that there was electricity between them.

For a brief moment, Batman wondered what they would all do if he stepped out of the shadows and sat down on the couch. It wasn't that they were consciously ostracizing him – one of his defining traits was his extreme independence and over time they had begun to take it for granted that he would never join in any of their social gatherings.

And he couldn't. If he joined in, any number of things would change. He had a reputation to maintain, for instance. If he had superpowers, that wouldn't be so essential, but as a human, the reputation was part of his arsenal. He was the man with the plan, the strategist and if the others saw him as someone they could joke with, as someone that they felt comfortable around, they might not be as willing to follow his orders the next time push came to shove.

A drill sergeant's dilemma.

He almost envied them their ability to have free time to relax. As the only true human, he had to constantly train and plan to keep himself as close as he could to the line of perfection. He couldn't afford free time.

He almost allowed himself a sigh, but instead clamped fiercely down on his emotions. Enough of this. It was wasting time and he had things to do. He had been sidelined by his own choice and he wasn't about to forget that.

Without a sound, Batman faded back around the corner and stalked off to the lifts.

AN: I have decided to make this a little "contest" of sorts. I challenge whoever reads this to write the same sort of thing, but from another character's perspective. Whether the focus is on how the character perceives Batman or their place in the League, or both, just be sure to have them doing the actions I outlined for them in the story (ie, Superman and the Martian Manhunter talking about commercials). When you put up your story, just email me the link and I'll add it into here :) No prizes, this is all for fun and I hope y'all will take me up on this challenge!