Hey there! At this point, I'd say you can expect about a week between updates. Hopefully that gives me time to finish up the rest of the story.

Diana decided she would wait half an hour before she went back to the cave. Superman had put her on edge and now she had to decide if it was worth it to even ask Bruce. Clark obviously didn't want her to know, and if Bruce agreed, that meant she would not hear anything through word of mouth. That left her with two options: wait for Bruce to open up or drag it out of him.

But while she waited, she decided her present company was better than a stressed, post-patrol Bruce any day. Alfred was asleep, but Tim was spending the night, and like his mentor, he kept late hours.

Diana was sitting on the stool by the counter, sipping her tea when Tim walked in and grabbed a bottle of soda from the fridge.

"Hi Diana," Tim said with a genuine smile as he took the seat next to the Amazon.

"Good Evening Tim," Diana replied with a brilliant smile. Tim, who was used to Diana by this point, was still taken aback by the regal woman before him. Bruce was a lucky man.

"I trust you've been adjusting well to your new school," Diana said warmly. Tim was a bright young man and a fine detective. He knew Diana was angry, and he was pretty sure he knew who she was angry at. So when he saw his mentor lurking outside of the kitchen he did not bother getting on Diana's bad side.

"It's a little difficult trying to restart the whole dual identity process again, but I'm sure I'll manage," he said as he watched Diana follow his line of sight into the hallway. Picking up on his cue, she genuinely smiled again, most likely for the last time that night.

"I'm glad, and I wish you the best of luck," she said as she stood up. "Should you ever need advice on interpersonal relationships, I'm here. I know Bruce can be lacking that department," she added as left the room. Tim smirked.

Diana approached Bruce, hell's fury in her gaze. Not one to mince words he stated it simply. "Maxwell Lord is alive."

Diana stopped, eyes wide. Bruce, had he not known her better, would have thought she was about to faint. But then he saw her fists curl, once more recognizing the princess he had grown to love.

"Where? Where is he?" she demanded, voice a low growl. Bruce narrowed his eyes.

"You and I both know you can't be the one that finds him first," he barked, doing his best to keep that particular memory out of his mind. He didn't tell her it was because Lord was looking to kill her, which in retrospect was cruel. He knew he was dredging up the past, and he didn't seem to care.

"Breathe, Diana," Bruce added, his voice softer. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he could feel the tension in her shoulders. While it didn't dissipate, he could see her expression of anger morph into one of concern.

"Bruce, what are we going to do?" she asked quietly. She looked so exasperated and so small, something he was entirely unused to seeing. It bothered him to say the least. So, he took her hand in his and drew her into his body. Wrapping his other arm around her, he spoke softly. "We are going to do whatever we need to do, but for now the most we can do is prepare."

He led them toward the stairs, but Diana stopped. "Bruce, I can't," she said, obviously considering her next words. "I can't go up to your bed and sleep next to you when I know what's going through your head."

"Princess, what are you talking about?" Bruce asked. He knew exactly what she was talking about, but he didn't feeling like having this discussion right now. She sighed, and he could tell she was too stressed to fight with him. Instead, she took the lead up the stairs as Bruce followed. He would never admit it, but she was right. He was thinking about what she had done and how this was coming back to ruin everything they built and all she could think about was doing it all again.

But Bruce knew if he had any chance in changing the outcome this time around, he would need to hold his composure. So he followed her up to his bed, where he draped is arm over her waist as they both pretended to be asleep.

Ooooooo

Bruce woke up to an empty bed. He had stirred earlier in the night, and he now knew that was when Diana left. He hadn't slept particularly well and he didn't particularly enjoy waking up alone, at least not since he got used to having a warm body next to him. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his communicator, preparing to check on Diana. His hand was almost to his communicator when he paused.

Sitting on the nightstand was Diana's communicator in plain view. She wanted him to know that she was unavailable.

Bruce jolted from his position on the bed and grabbed his uniform. It was 4 am, so he had at least three hours to ascertain just what the hell Diana thought she was doing. Donning the cowl as he approached the clock, Bruce entered the cave and swiftly moved toward the teleporter. Within seconds he was stalking through the watchtower toward the founders' wing where Diana's temporary quarters were located.

The leaguers that passed the Batman saw the purpose in his eyes and quickly made room. Reaching Diana's room in a record minute, he entered the passcode and barged in. To his chagrin, he barged in on nothing. The room was very obviously unlived in, and it looked like that had been the case for quite some time. To be sure, Batman doubled back to the central computer hub to check the logs for entry to her room. As he suspected, no one had been in or out in over a week.

With the same purposed with which he entered, Batman moved to the teleportation pad, entered in the coordinates, and stepped on, scowl firmly in place.