Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Sweet Fanny Adams. Not a sausage.

A/N: Ok, I decided that I was going to do this thing properly, and thank you so much to the people that reviewed Hatred – so here's Batman's bit. And unsurprisingly, the title is:

Love

I love you.

I'm never, ever going to tell you.

At least not while I'm still donning the cape and the cowl. The idea of loving you- it conjures up wonderful images of soft curves and naked skin, of twining sheets and the warm silk of your hair. It leads to picturing passion and following my heart (as tattered and beaten as it is) to whatever horizon it might lead to. Somehow...you manage to do that anyway.

I'm not like you, Princess, I can't be soft. The Batman needs hard edges and indifference to survive. I have to be a black hole – I know that's how you see me. A huge, vast void that consumes everything without ever giving back. I can't blame you. That's all I've ever done to you.

I have four, tiny, sparks of hope in my life. The first is Dick. The second is Tim.

The third is the knowledge that I won't be doing this for the rest of my life. It's coming, Diana, I promise it is. One day I'm going to give this up. Let a younger, fresher man take over. Can you imagine that? Me, retired. I'm not sure I can sometimes. The ridiculous thing is, I haven't got a plan for it. I don't need one – I'm just going to know. And I don't know how I know that. World's greatest detective, and I don't have a damn clue. You'd laugh if I told you that, wouldn't you? And it would sound like music.

The fourth, and brightest, is you. The way you look at me. I recognise that fire in your gaze – how could I not? I see your palms bleeding sometimes after you leave a meeting, from where you've dug your nails into your hands. You hate me. God knows I've given you reason enough. But the important thing is that if you hate me, then you still care. If you want to kill me, then I still mean something to you.

Because the day you simply stop caring, Princess, is the day I die. The Bat and the playboy will carry on, but I won't. There'd be no point – and I never do anything pointlessly.

I'm not going to ask you to wait for me. I don't have that right. But neither can I fix it yet.

Once it's done, then I can. If you'll let me.

Have you never asked yourself why I'm so unnecessarily cruel to you? Because I'm trying to make you hate me. I need that hatred. It gives me hope. It might sound strange, but the opposite of love isn't hate. It's apathy. And you're many, many things, but you'll never be apathetic. At least not as long as you hate me.

It's not enough, and it's nowhere near what you deserve, but it's all I can offer you now.

One day.

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A/N: Turns out it's a little less dark that Diana's! Lol I am much less confident when it comes to Bruce, so if I got it totally wrong then you'll have to let me know. And there'll be another two parts to this, but each is a one-shot, and apart from the final one, they work pretty well on their own. Review this one please!