Author's Note: Sorry about the delay on this one, but it's been a bit off a crazy week (we've had two snowstorms this year- one in October, and one in March. This friggin' state...). As I work out better systems for contacting editors, things should get smoother.

Clark hurried out to his car to change, leaving Bruce to his thoughts, who happened to have enough on his mind. Once Clark was sure that he was safely out of view, he pulled off his tuxedo, revealing the Superman uniform that he always wore underneath his civilian apparel. He carefully folded the tux and placed it neatly underneath the driver's seat of his car. Then, the superhero quickly took off for the Gotham City Police Station.

He instantly spotted what he was looking for on the rooftop. Facing away from him was a tall man with graying hair. Superman could see a thin trail of smoke billowing into the air from the cigarette that the man was smoking. The well known superhero lightly touched down on the roof.

"Commissioner?"

"It's about time you - What the hell are you doing here?" Commissioner Gordon whirled around in obvious surprise. "Where's Batman?"

"He's taking the day off," Superman hastily replied. He instantly regretted his word choice as Gordon's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Funny... I've never known him to take a day off. You would tell me if something was wrong, right?"

"He's fine, just feeling a bit... run down." Superman had always felt that honesty was always the best policy.

Gordon relaxed slightly. "I guess I can't really blame him... I mean, I'd take the day off if I could," the police commissioner let out a heavy sigh. "Which brings me to the reason why I called you here. We just got word from Arkham Asylum. The Joker's on the loose."

"Again?" Superman groaned. Encounters with the Joker were never fun. He'd never truly gone head to head with the Joker, but still found that he was pretty unsettling all the same. "Hm... Well, he's nothing we haven't handled before. Thank you for telling me, Commissioner; the Justice League will get it taken care of as soon as possible."

"Slow down, slow down... There's more. This wasn't just another one of his escapes. He usually goes out of his way to make a fanfare when he escapes. Not this time. He was there last night, gone by morning."

Superman froze in place and his mind began racing with possibilities. "Alright... You have my undivided attention."

"The asylum went on lock-down when some of the guards were reported missing. The bodies were found at the bottom of the Gotham River this morning. Those particular guards were supposed to have been making rounds that would have included regular checks on Joker. They've been dead for twelve hours, but someone punched in using their IDs and access cards. To top it all off, the security cameras have been looping all night long. We don't even have footage of him escaping. The trail's gone cold; he's like a ghost. Someone must have deep hooks in the system to put all that in place," Commissioner Gordon heaved out a frustrated sigh.

"I'll get some people on it immediately," Superman responded, rubbing his cleanly shaven chin while he was deep in thought.

"Please, and do it fast. Everything's going to hit the fan when the media gets a hold on this one," Gordon massaged his temples in an exhausted manner. "To think he'd been in there for more than two years already... To be honest, I was hoping that we'd heard the last from him... I'll tell ya, this is an absolute nightmare. While I'm here dealing with all this, you know where my daughter is? Bruce Wayne's wedding."

"Oh... Yeah?" Superman mumbled, feeling a prickle in the back of his neck that signaled he was becoming uncomfortable.

"Yeah, she's seeing his adopted son... Ah, what I wouldn't give to be rich and not have to deal with these psychos..." Gordon spat his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. "Well, I'd better get back down, I'm going to have to call a press conference and tell everybody that we bungled it again... I hope you have better luck."

"I give you my word that we'll do everything that we can."

Gordon nodded and made his way back down the stairs and into the building, where reporters would soon be lining up with a myriad of questions about how the police had managed to let the Joker escape once again. Superman flew off as fast as he could, secretly thinking that Bruce would have taken the Commissioner up on his offer to switch places.

Back at the chapel, Bruce was experiencing a sensation that he hadn't felt in years; he was beginning to tremble with anxiety. As Dick adjusted his bow tie, Bruce couldn't help but feel as though he were lining up a noose around his neck.

"C'mon, old man, llighten up!" Dick said cheerfully as they watched the guests take their seats through the small gap of the slightly ajar doorway. There couldn't have been more than twenty people, but the sight still sent shivers down Bruce's spine.

"Oh, come on..." Dick frowned. "You're about to get married to Wonder Woman! I swear, do you realize how many people would kill to be in your spot right now?"

"Shut up," Bruce growled out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes still fixed on the crowd.

"Sorry."

'This is a huge mistake... It was a moment of weakness and now I'm... here. 'It's not too late, though,' Bruce thought, 'I could leave right now...'

"Alright, it's all taken care of," Clark said, entering the room with John, Wally, Tim Drake, and J'onn J'onnz. "All set?" He clapped Bruce on the shoulder. Bruce continued to stare at the carpeted flooring. The bridesmaids were assembling at the front of the church. The group of bridesmaids consisted of Shayera, Zatanna, and Barbara Gordon.

Clark led the group out into the main room. Dick hung back to give his adoptive father a stern look before taking his place in the front as the best man.

Bruce felt as if the seconds stretched into hours. 'I could make a distraction... disappear,' he thought frantically. 'Diana would kill me...' He felt his legs begin to carry him forward. 'I'd have vanish completely... I have contacts in Russia; I could lie low for a few years...' He came to an abrupt stop in front of the altar, so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice music swelling around him until Dick nudged him. Bruce looked up suddenly and felt his mouth open slightly. Diana was approaching the altar, a brilliant smile on her face, her eyes radiating immense happiness, with her mother by her side (Alfred had originally been slated to walk her down the aisle, but had graciously stepped aside when Hippolyta had expressed a desire to participate in the ceremony). She was wearing the same plain white gown as her bridesmaids, but the simplicity of the dress only served to highlight her natural beauty. Diana gave Bruce a shy smile as she approached the altar next to him.

An enormous internal struggle erupted within Bruce's mind, drowning out the minister's speech, as though his doubts and rationalizations were battling for control of his actions.

'I can't back out now, she'd be crushed...'

'It's for her own good. I've been here before, and it never ends well...'

'She can handle herself; she's tough.'

'I don't deserve this...'

'I've spent my whole life fighting injustice...'

'And what do I have to show for it? I haven't even been able to fix one damn city. I don't deserve this until I've saved Gotham...'

'Making myself miserable won't do spit for Gotham...'

'It won't hurt; it gives me motivation.'

'There are other motivations...'

Suddenly, there was complete silence. Bruce felt the eyes of everyone in the Church resting on him expectantly. Steeling himself, he swallowed and said two words that he'd never expected himself to say:

"I do."

Author's Note: Hm. That's something.

Betas for this chapter:

YourAngelicVampyre