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Chapter Two: Alone

Bruce had finished his list. Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Selina Kyle, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, and maybe Helena Bertinelli. Those were the people who he needed to say goodbye too. Everyone else… they could find out themselves. He didn't want a big announcement, and he'd already made it very clear to Alfred that he didn't want a large funeral. Just a few private goodbyes, and then he'd wait. When he finally died, he would be buried next to his parents, with only a few specific people present for the burial.

A knock on the door broke Bruce free from his contemplation. He turned toward the heavy steel door of his room in the JLA Watchtower. He pulled the door open, and saw J'onn standing there to greet him. "What is it?" Bruce asked.

"I know I was told to not read your thoughts, but I did sense a lot of distress coming from here. You normally keep your emotions well contained. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing important."

"I believe you are lying."

After a bit of a pause, Bruce said, "Yes. I am." Bruce then pushed passed J'onn, vaguely aware that this was the first time he had ever walked through the Watchtower without the Batman suit on. He barged into Superman's room and eyed the man of steel. "We need to talk."

"Bruce I was just headed to the sight of a hurricane in The Gulf, can it wait?"

"No. It can't wait, because I can't."

"Look, Bruce I don't appreciate you coming in here and making demands when-"

"Clark listen to me! This may be the last demand I ever make, ok?"

"What…?"

"Just listen to me. Please."

"Did- did you just say please? Wow, this must be important." Clark pulled out a chair from the desk on the wall, and took a seat. "What's going on?"

Bruce paced back and forth for a few minutes, before letting out a deep sigh and looking to Superman. "Something happened last night."

"Something bad, I'm guessing."

"If that's how you want to look at it." Bruce sighed again. "I have a disease…"

"Oh God, who did you sleep with?" Clark raised an eyebrow.

"A heart disease." Bruce groaned.

"Oh. Is- Is it serious?"

"Have you ever heard of a heart condition that wasn't serious?" Bruce snapped.

"Sorry. How serious?"

"It's known as Explosive Heart Disease. EHD."

"That doesn't sound good at all."

"Clark…" Bruce looked at him very solemnly. "I'm dying." There were a few minutes of stunned quietness. "There's no cure. Not even a heart transplant would work." Bruce continued.

"Well there must be something!" Clark spouted. "We have plenty of access to alien technology, plus magic, and we're friends with some of the smartest people on the planet! I'm sure we could come up with something!"

"I've done plenty of research, Clark. My entire system is ruined; no amount of tech can just replace it all. The world's leading heart specialists have studied this, all they've found are a few ways to slow it down. And I won't have anyone trying to fix my heart with magic; I am not comfortable with that."

"But you are comfortable with dying?" Clark shouted. "Bruce, this isn't like you. You've never been one to just give up!"

"I'm not giving up Clark!" Bruce shouted back. "The fact is that EHD is caused by repeated overexertion and injury over a long period of time. I did this to myself, and I need to accept that. I don't want to spend my last month of life struggling to find a cure, when there isn't one there!"

"So that's it then?" Clark said quietly. "You're dying."

"I wanted to tell you first. I know we haven't always been the best of friends, but the fact is I respect you as much as anyone. And I just wanted you to know that."

"Thank you." Clark nodded slowly.

"Keep this to yourself too. I have a few people who I want to tell, but other than that… no one hears a word of this. I don't want to be showered in sympathy, I don't want to be mourned, I just want the people closest to me to know what's coming."

"I understand. So are you telling Diana?"

"I feel like I have to. I've been through just as much with her as you."

"But… I mean for another reason."

"What?"

"Bruce, we all know you love her." Clark said flatly. "If you only have a month live, then you need to tell her that."

"I don't see the point."

"Do you really want to die without her knowing how you feel?"

"Clark, I couldn't do that to her. If I told her that, and then I told her I was dying… no. I couldn't play with her emotions that way."

"Well…" Clark looked away. "I really should be to the Gulf of Mexico, help with the hurricane damage. Thanks for stopping by."

"Yeah." Bruce said absently. Clark got up and walked over to his closet to retrieve his costume. As he opened up the closet doors however, a person came falling out into the room! A flash of orange hair showed as the figure tumbled to the floor. Wally West.

"Wally? What the hell?" Clark demanded.

"Ok, I can explain." Wally said nervously, getting to his feet. "Kyle and I had a bet. He said I couldn't hide in your room for more than five minutes because of your super senses, and I said that I totally could, because I'm an orange ninja. And for the record, I did! I was in here like, eight minutes!"

"Get out Wally." Clark groaned.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea…" Wally stopped and looked at Bruce.

"What did you hear?" Bruce demanded.

"Just some… stuff, you know-"

"Wally. What – did – you – hear?" Bruce repeated.

"You… you're dying. That's what I heard." Wally answered, sounding very uncomfortable. Bruce stared at him for a few minutes.

"Don't breathe a word of it to anyone. Please." He said sincerely.

"I wasn't going to." Wally told him, equally sincere. "I'm not a complete idiot, I understand you want privacy."

"Thanks." Bruce turned to leave. As he stepped out into the hall, Wally zoomed in front of him.

"I'm sorry, this just doesn't seem real to me. The great and terrifying Batman… is getting killed by a heart disease?" Wally raised an eyebrow. Bruce looked around quickly to make sure they were the only ones in the hall.

"It's very real." Bruce nodded. "Now can you please get out of my way?"

"Hold on a second. What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you made it sound like you're just going to tell the people who you care about, and then just lock yourself up and die."

"That's exactly what I had planned."

"Come on, that's stupid!" Wally exclaimed. "You must have a bucket list or something!"

"No." Bruce pushed past the speedster and took off down the hall.

"Bruce, come on man! There's no point in that!"

"I don't want to make a big show out of my death, don't you get it?"

"Yeah, I do. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy your last month here on Earth."

"I'll be fine."

"Bruce, you haven't just let yourself enjoy life since you were eight years old. I think it's finally time, you know? Time to find some peace, or whatever."

"Drop it Wally." Bruce said in a quiet voice, and continued on down the hall.

"You've been alone all your life!" Wally screamed. "Do you really want to die alone too?"

Bruce stopped in his tracks. His thoughts went dead, and he stood frozen. Alone. I'm going to die alone.

"It's your last month alive Bruce. I just thought you might like to feel some happiness for once, before your time was up." Wally said in a flat tone. Then he started to walk off the other way.

"Wally…" Bruce called.

"Yeah?" The speedster asked.

"What did you have in mind?"

In a blur, Wally was standing in front of Bruce with a smile on his face. "Well, if you're going to die… then I'm going to teach you how to live."

(Top of Wayne Enterprises – Thirty Minutes Later)

"You were right Bruce, the view up here kicks ass." Wally smiled.

"I find it's easier to think here." Bruce nodded. The two of them sat with their legs hanging off the edge of the tallest building in Gotham, overlooking the streets below. "It's kind of funny. Normally when I'm up here like this, I'm prowling for criminals to fight. But that's Batman. Now I'm just…"

"Bruce Wayne." Wally nodded. "Nothing wrong with that." Then without hesitation, Wally leaned forward and spit down into the streets below.

"Why do you always do that?"

"What?"

"Whenever we're somewhere high up, you spit. Why?"

"It's a guy thing." Wally shrugged. "Haven't you ever done it?"

"No."

"Come on, you've never had the urge to spit?"

"Not once."

"Try it."

"No."

"Bruce, I'm helping you enjoy your life before it's gone, remember?"

"And to be happy I have to spit off a building?"

"Yes. Now spit, damn it!"

"Fine." Bruce grunted. Then he leaned forward a bit, and spat the biggest was he could form, sending it downward.

"Felt good right?"

"Actually… it sort of did." Bruce admitted.

"Ok then. So what do we do now?" Wally asked.

"I thought you were going to tell me."

"Come on Bruce, what have you always wanted to do?"

"I've done everything I ever wanted." Bruce shrugged.

"There must be something!"

"My one goal has always been to fight to avenge my parents… until the day I died. I guess I've just about achieved that."

"Alright, let's try this; what did you always want to do before your parents were killed."

"Before?"

"Yeah. Think back to when you were a little eight year old boy, and even before that. What were the things you wanted to do more than anything?"

"I…" Bruce thought for a moment. "I know I always wanted to go scuba diving."

"Well we've already been to freakin' Atlantis, so I think that would be a little bit dull by comparison. Anything else?"

"I remember wanting to climb the pyramids in Egypt."

"Ok then. Let's go climb some pyramids."

"Are you serious?"

"Hell yes I'm serious! Let's do it. We could get back to the watchtower and teleport there in no time." Wally stated.

"Fine. Let's do it then." Bruce couldn't help but grin a little.

"Yup. But first, we're doing something I've always wanted to do." Wally smiled and reached into his duffel bag.

"What?"

"We are going to parachute off of this building." Wally pulled out two JLA issue parachutes, and tossed one to Bruce.

"Wally that isn't even legal."

"Dude, you're a billionaire! The law doesn't apply to you. Just look at Donald Trump, or Bill Gates. Plus, we can't get in too much trouble if the owner of the building gives us permission, right?" Wally grinned.

"Fine. You have my permission." Bruce said. Then the two put on the parachutes, sprinted toward the ledge, and leapt off.

Gulf of Mexico – Ten Minutes Earlier

"What took you so long?" Hawkgirl yelled as Superman arrived on the scene of the hurricane.

"I just got held up at the Watchtower." Superman answered vaguely.

"The damage isn't as bad as we expected, and so far we've been able to keep casualties down to a minimum." Wonder Woman said as she approached.

"Good." Superman looked at for a moment. "Diana… have you talked to Bruce lately?"

"No. Why, is something wrong?" Diana asked.

"Well…" Superman paused. "I think you just need to talk to him as soon as you can, ok?"

"Um, all right." Diana shrugged.

"And one more thing…"

"What is it Clark?"

"Whatever he tells you… repeat it to me. And if I have to, I'll tell you the rest."

A/N- We'll get to some actual Bruce/Diana interaction in the next chapter, I promise! This chapter was all about setting up the story's dynamic between Bruce and Wally, we'll move up to some more emotional stuff and the story progresses. Keep reading and reviewing everybody!