Bruce sighed, rubbing at his forehead gingerly, a migraine pulsing behind his temples. He often wondered about the choice to make the inside of the bunker completely white, the added fluorescent lights didn't help. He found himself missing his cave the most when in this situation. He missed his entire manor if he was to be completely honest with himself. The workers were getting closer to completion, but there were so many things that could never be recovered. He would do his best to replace most of it.

Bruce leaned back on the chair next to the computer, looking up at the monitors, eyes narrowing in scrutiny. True to their word, the League hadn't attempted tracking him, or offered any help whatsoever. The people of his city were not taking it very well. The reporters had turned vicious, towards them and towards Batman. It had been weeks since the League visited, their missions turning more dangerous as time went on, the direct link to the space station's computers allowing him more information than they would ever know. Yet it still wasn't enough.

Their filing abilities were atrocious, the Martian likely taking over the bulk amount, but unable to keep it organized due to the vast amounts of information that was added. They had only just added a quick summary of what had happened to Green Lantern and the rest a few days ago. John didn't have much time as he was also working on saving his entire sector of the galaxy. However he wanted to put it, the League was not as organized as he had hoped.

Batman had had successes towards the police, managing to avoid them and not being forced to hurt them. Every time he managed to get to the Bunker without having broken an officers nose or other bones, he was pleased. Gordon had met with him a few times and in turn the both of them had met with Harvey. Bruce visited as himself sometimes as well, sitting with him alone, answering quiet questions, keeping his mind off the pain. He found being able to talk about what had happened to be quietly relieving. He especially enjoyed Harvey's expression when he told him he hadn't burned down the Manor. Dent was honestly surprised when he admitted that he didn't drink. In his words if he had to face Gotham like that every night he would have turned into a raging alcoholic.

Wayne Tech had been working on a method to make skin grafts faster and easier as well as limit scar tissue long before Harvey Dent had half his face burned off. The purpose was reconstructive surgery and Bruce kept him updated constantly on how the development was going. Giving him hope that at least one thing in his life would go back to normal. Gotham city showered Dent with well-wishes and most of them yelled for re-election as soon as he was back to normal. They had no idea of what Wayne Tech was working on; they didn't know how close they were. The current replacement DA had none of the vim and vigor that Harvey had been blessed with, unable to handle the pressure. Gotham was still a cleaner place, however. Harvey's work when he had been able had seen to that.

While something of a power vacuum had been created in the wake of the mass arrests that had taken place, it was something kept under the rug and out of their way. It was something Batman struggled on a nightly basis to contain. He rubbed his hands through his hair, the dark circles under his eyes one of the main signs of constant struggle. A sharp ringing brought him out of his thoughts, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a cell phone that he clicked open automatically after reading the caller ID.

"Mr. Fox, what you got for me?" The idea of calling each other by their last names had been Lucius' plan. The man was quite aware of how uncomfortable Bruce was with anyone referring to him as such and had sought to correct it. Bruce could not function in the business world without being able to handle it.

"Mr. Wayne, we did it."

"What?"

"We hit a breakthrough. We're going to finish these tests, but I'll be honest with you, the entire team thinks it will work. You want to tell your friend Harvey that he's the first on our list of people, just like he asked? We got rid of the added complication. It's stopped being rejected by the host one thousand and ninety nine times out of two thousand. That is definitely better than the past average. We're going to be able to pass their tests completely in a few more days."

Bruce felt a grin pull his mouth from ear to ear, the migraine vanishing at the sound of the first truly good news he had had in weeks. "I most definitely will tell him, thank you Mr. Fox."

"No trouble at all, Mr. Wayne."

He hung up and immediately called Gordon. "Mr. Wayne?"

"Gordon! Is this a bad time?"

"No, not at all. It's been pretty quiet, what's going on Bruce?"

"We think we've done it."

"Done what?"

"We can fix Harvey's face."

"Already?"

Bruce laughed. "Don't act so surprised, we've been working on this in particular for something like years. We finally hit a breakthrough. We had some trouble getting the host to…"

"Spare me the details, Mr. Wayne; they'll go right over my head." Gordon chuckled quietly. "But you can fix him?"

"Yep, at least his face. But you heard what the therapist said; she figured that as soon as that was fixed the rest of his mind will join together. There were hints of a split-personality."

"Yeah. Yeah…"

"Jim, Harvey really is sorry."

"I know he is, Bruce, I know. It's just…difficult. He's been trying so hard to make it up to me, but I just don't know if I can forgive him. Can you?"

"Let's…let's just say I know what an amazing person Rachel was. Let's just say that given the chance I would have done everything in my power to see that the people responsible were destroyed. Maybe not killed, but I would have destroyed them. I can't forgive him, Gordon. But there are so many other things going on in my life, so many other things I can think of that would turn me into a bitter and solitary man that I can move on. But it wasn't my family that Harvey took. It was yours and I more than understand the wish to see the man responsible pay."

"Harvey didn't truly hurt my family, Mr. Wayne. He didn't shoot them and he didn't hurt them. He scared them, my son is still having nightmares, even if he won't admit it, but he stopped when it mattered. He stopped himself. You…you can't talk a man back to sanity. He talked himself." Gordon was standing on the rooftop as he answered quietly, looking at the remains of the batsignal, the night around him dark and pressing. He wished desperately for the glass to be whole, for a rustle of black fabric. Trying to catch him was the worst thing he could have been forced to do. It was all Harvey's fault. And yet… "You're right. You're right. If Batman can work to help him, then I suppose that's the least that I can do."

"I suppose." Telling Gordon had been the hardest thing he had ever had to do. The look on the man's face when he crouched before him, explained what he was doing, and listened as Gordon broke down was the most painful thing he had ever witnessed. What had hurt worse was the man's admission that he felt he had failed him. It had taken a while, but eventually Gordon had accepted it. There wasn't much else he could do. Bruce had more than proved himself capable. He just wished it hadn't come to the world crumbling under his feet to prove himself trustworthy. They needed to work together now. They needed to win.

"Well…I've decided it's what I'm going to do. Take a picture of Harvey's expression when you tell him how long it will take."

"You want a picture of that face?" Bruce asked.

"Of course, I'll use it to scare the people in the interrogation room since I can't have Batman any more. I'll blow it up and stick it on the back wall; they'll be pissing themselves in two seconds flat."

Bruce found himself laughing until he cried. Jim counted it as a job well done.

….

Gordon returned to work the next morning obscenely tired, promising to himself that he'd get more sleep the next night. He walked through the MCU, nodding to the various men and women who worked with him, the absence of Rodriguez still felt painfully. He had thought she could be trusted, yet she was the one who handed over his family. That was something he could not forget. It was also something she had not been able to stand. Her resignation and promise handed over to him before she left. He had heard she was doing well for herself the next state over. He accepted a cup of coffee from one of his assistants, the short woman with brown frizzy hair not giving him any other choice. Not that he really would, the woman made very good coffee.

He entered his office quietly and nearly groaned at the pile of paperwork on his desk. He sank into his chair heavily, the mahogany top of his desk nearly covered. He grabbed the first file he found, sighing heavily as he lifted the styrofoam cup to his lips and flipped the file open with his other hand, and promptly jolted so badly he sent the scalding hot coffee splashing all over himself. The combination of surprise, pain and downright confusion made him almost miss the sudden flash that came out of the corner of his eye as well as give out a startled shout.

Bruce Wayne snuck in through the window, holding a camera, and giving him an apologetic little smile. "Um…oops? You really weren't supposed to be holding coffee. You alright? The assistant knows I'm here…she let me in."

Gordon looked up at the man before him that was squirming guiltily, looked down at the signed picture of an extremely pleased Harvey Dent, and looked at the large stain on his shirt that was still nearly scalding. He looked back up at Bruce and finally just threw his head back and laughed. "Good lord, you trying to give me a heart attack? What's with the camera anyway? And why didn't she tell me?"

"Well…he said that if I went that far I might as well give him your reaction. I think he's going to hurt himself laughing. He goes into surgery tomorrow. It's the perfect get well soon gift. As for why she didn't tell you…I may have told her not to?" Bruce gave him a quietly guilty smile that he received a narrow-eyed look for, before the matter was disregarded.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yep. Whatever you have to say to him…best time is now."

"Sounds like a plan. I have a lunch break at one."

"I'll meet you there."

"Alright." Bruce hurriedly moved to the door before he could say anything else. "Wait, you're not Batman, I can still see you moving. You owe me a new cup of coffee." Jim pointed at him sternly, a slight smirk on his mouth.

Bruce froze, turned, and returned the smirk. "You don't want my coffee, trust me. I don't drink the stuff anyway, my butler's British, remember? I've been drinking tea since I was really little."

"Explains a lot."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him, smiled, and left, nodding to Gordon's assistant as she walked into the room he had just left. The sight of Gordon dripping coffee made her give an immediate vocalization, hurrying forward, the short woman completely frazzled as she made to clean him up. Jim laughed, explained it on eccentric billionaires and listened to her fuss with a smirk, exceedingly amused at the grumbling about billionaires that couldn't mind their own business and tossed coffee on people for kicks. He couldn't help but smile and think that maybe things really would get better.

He supposed he could only hope, but the fact that he could hope at all was good enough in Gotham.

…

The plastic chairs in the waiting room were some of the most uncomfortable things he ever had to deal with even as he shifted in them. Bruce, being younger and also a billionaire that was considered highly eccentric had turned his around to sit on it backwards. He was receiving several dirty looks from the others, all of them as far away from the two as possible. Jim really wished he had the same luxury as the other, but nope. Here he was stuck in a horrible plastic chair that was making his butt numb, just another thing that he didn't like about being a respected Commissioner. He figured the only thing he could do was talk. "So, have you heard anything about the Justice League? What have they been up to?" Gordon asked under his breath, looking at Bruce from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, last week they helped stop a natural disaster in Wake."

"That island in the Pacific?"

"Yep. Turned out the inactive volcano there really was active. Someone lost their job over that one I'm betting you…"

"More than that, I'll bet."

"How much?" Bruce asked, the two of them snickering at the exchange before continuing. "They got there in time. Lots of property damage, but the population total was small anyway. Not that hard to gather them up and fly them off."

"I suppose not. But you know what really confuses me?"

"I can think of a lot of things." Bruce grinned at the raised eyebrow he received and cleared his throat. "Sorry, had to say it. What exactly confuses you?"

"Why don't they ever come to Gotham?" The question was mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, unnoticeable to the rest of them gathered half a room away.

Bruce was silent for a moment. "Maybe they believe that Batman is innocent…" The answer was even quieter.

"That could turn out to be a very big problem."

"Let's hope it doesn't."

The silence that came over them was overwhelming; the falsely cheerful decorations in the main surgery waiting room almost vomit-inducing in their cutesiness. They had only just cleared Dent for surgery a week before. Now was the moment of truth, the bandages would be removed, and they would see if Harvey Dent would ever be the same. All they could do now was wait, wait and keep their fingers crossed that it would be worth it. There were a few reporters ready with their cameras and microphones, already having been warded off by Gordon until Harvey arrived.

Bruce really disliked the way they were eyeing him, that close, scrutinizing, and hungry manner of buzzards about to tear apart their next meal. He hated reporters.

A moment later and the doors opened, the back of a doctor wearing green scrubs over his work clothes shown as he wheeled the chair backwards. They stood up immediately, cameras rolling, Bruce spinning his chair back into its usual position, breath being held. They turned, a big smile on the Surgeons face, and a whole Harvey Dent smiling back at them from a wheelchair, his head and eyebrows shaved, but his face whole. The scar that they could see was small, not truly visible unless they were looking for it, all along where the burns had met skin in a very fine line. The immediate congratulations and applause was something he waved away with a grin.

Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne were truly unable to help themselves, shaking his hand and congratulating him.

"Please, Bruce, you of all people shouldn't be congratulating me. It was your research that made this possible." Harvey smiled at him, shaking the hand that was offered as the cameras filmed.

"It was the least I could do, Harvey. Gotham needed its White Knight back."

"It's true; the White Knight is something that brings hope to people. In Gotham, we need all the hope we can get. It's good to have you back, Harvey." Gordon smiled at him, even though the smile was more of a smirk. Blue eyes widened before the smile on his face grew, and everything in that one moment was put behind them.

Gotham always came first. No matter what happened, Gotham always came first.

Bruce had hired a private care-giver for Harvey as things worked on returning to normal. They were certain of the fact that it worked, so far everything had been stable, but there was always the possibility of complications. At the moment they needed to get him home, Alfred waiting with the car for all three of them, Harvey still in the wheelchair, the medicine in his system making him dizzy whenever he attempted to stand up. He had pain relievers and other drugs to prevent infection, but they all thought that the possibility of such was minimal. For all intents and purposes, Harvey Dent was whole. It was for this purpose and this purpose alone that Bruce teased him the entire way home.

"So, what do you think of the bald look?"

"Well…I wouldn't exactly call it my favorite." Harvey ran his fingers over the dome, smirking slightly. "What do you think; could I pass as Lex Luthor?"

They laughed shaking their heads. "No, no possible way."

"Although that would make things very easy for you."

"Yeah, with his kind of money you could rule the world." The two of them looked at Bruce with a raised eyebrow. "Well, you could, I would certainly know." They laughed and for the first time in a long while, things were truly looking up.

"Hey, you know what…you could actually go to that charity now."

"Sounds like a plan. What took so long anyway? That's been in the works for quite a while, hasn't it?"

Bruce smirked to himself quietly and shrugged. "Lots of reasons."

"Whenever you're vague, I worry." Gordon raised an eyebrow at him and Wayne returned the look.

"Probably a good policy."

…

Bruce leaned back against his chair, smiling as he watched the people of Gotham try and come to grips with the fact that some of the heroes from the Justice League were right in front of them. Harvey and Gordon had looked at Bruce when the charity opened and just stared. Bruce had laughed and shrugged. "We had trouble coordinating our schedules. They were too busy saving the world for a while. I think I got a good deal though. We have Flash, who, as you can see, is exceedingly social…over there is J'onn, if at all possible avoid him." The instruction was mumbled but completely sincere. "Talk to Superman, he's been interested in a conversation with the both of you for a while. J'onn's too polite to interrupt. He's over there."

That done he had taken a seat to watch the proceedings. Normally he would be attempting to monopolize their attention, but there were too many people talking to each other. As said, it wasn't about protecting the identity of Batman, not tonight. Tonight it was about trying to give Gotham hope. They didn't need him to do that.

The charity had been orchestrated by the Wayne Foundation; people from all parts of life were walking around the tables, talking to each other. At the start of the night cliques had formed, low class with lower, high class with higher, yet as the heroes set into talking to each one of them and they remembered what the charity was for, circles began expanding. There had been other methods to raise money for repairs, but none of them had been this effective. The rich were quite happy to stick their donations into the boxes provided; the mayor had even stopped by for a while.

It wasn't until Bruce glanced over at the green Martian that he decided maybe it was a good idea to let the social billionaire take over. J'onn was alone, the surrounding people giving him a wide berth. Bruce looked over at where Harvey and Jim were, doing as he had suggested and talking quite happily to Superman. As much as he thought that the two of them would be the perfect ones to talk to J'onn, he couldn't risk it. Not without making sure J'onn really would keep his telepathy to himself. He didn't trust anyone, telepathic aliens especially.

"No one's talking to you much, J'onn?" The alien turned as Bruce spoke to him, a weak smile stretching his mouth.

"They are behaving as I expected they would."

"Ouch, J'onn, that cuts me deeply." He put a hand to his heart, pulling a distraught face that J'onn smiled at, before Bruce smirked lightly and sighed, leaning against the wall next to him. "So, have you tried talking to them?"

"I have, there were actually quite a few people attempting to talk to me at first."

"What happened?"

"I am still learning Earth's culture. I did not get what it was they were saying at times."

"You didn't…you know…look?"

J'onn looked at him directly, Bruce's eyebrow rising as he answered. "I would never violate someone in such a manner, not if they do not understand it and I did not ask for permission."

Bruce blinked and then smiled. "Well then, that's a little different, and I'm sorry for accusing you. I didn't know, it's all very odd to me, as you can probably imagine. With that said, those two over with Superman, Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, do their names sound familiar?"

"From what I recall they were allies with Batman."

"Yes. Do you understand why they were avoiding you?" J'onn blinked and there was a sudden moment of clarity.

"They still have not forgiven us."

"No, Harvey Dent…well, you know what happened to Harvey."

"Yes."

"Then you know why it would be difficult to forgive you. However, they don't wish to be rude. Telepathic…" He let his sentence trail off, watching as J'onn considered quietly and nodded. "If you want, I could introduce you. They would be the perfect ones to talk to."

J'onn looked at them and back to Bruce, finally giving a slight nod of his head.

"Excellent, come on."

Dent and Gordon turned when they noticed Bruce leading the Martian over, a slightly quizzical look passed over their faces, until Bruce shrugged. It wasn't until J'onn spoke that they relaxed fully. "I understand your anger. I assure you, your thoughts shall remain your own. I will not attempt to pry."

Bruce and his honey-dipped tongue had apparently done it again.

"Alright, I am sorry."

"You cannot help it, and I do not blame you."

"Good. So we're all friends then." Bruce smirked lightly and then paused, listening to the hush that fell over the guests. Superman stiffened slightly and Bruce looked up, "What?" He turned then, following the blue-eyed gaze and huffed out a sigh. "I had hoped he wouldn't show up today…"

Lex Luthor had entered the building. The bald man was practically schmoozing around the rich, completely ignoring the other guests; the ones who had branched off to include the ones they were helping went back to their own groups. The Flash looked around at everyone with something like shock before zipping over to the small group in the middle. Superman was glaring. "You invited him?"

"Hell no." Bruce looked quietly furious, eyes narrowed and focused. "He's been trying to make a business deal with Wayne Enterprises for longer than I can really remember; he's been in Gotham for a few days now. I've had to meet with him several times."

"So… Why don't you want to make a deal with him?" Superman's words were light, Bruce's reply equally so.

"Because he's a snake in the grass and everything he touches turns to rot." Superman blinked, looking at him in surprise. "That said, most of the deals he attempts to make involve using our research for his own weapons research and development. I don't like guns. That's all he's trying to make. A bigger gun. Call it what you will, the only thing he wants is destruction and a profit. We were in a bit of a race to develop the technology that fixed Harvey over here. I'm proud as well as relieved to have beaten him at his own game. I have no problem with a profit, it's quite true that Wayne Enterprises is out to make one; it's how we continue to fund these charities and our research. LexCorp is not something we wish to get involved in." As he was talking he was signaling a waiter, a familiar one to two of them.

"Do you want me to get rid of him?" Superman asked, beginning to hover slightly, Bruce shook his head.

"No, it's fine, I'll take care of him." He rolled his shoulders once, an expression sliding across his face that three of them had never seen before in person. The vapid playboy expression combined with just a touch of irritated toddler. Superman quit hovering; this was going to be good.

"Master Wayne?" Alfred asked as he approached, raising an eyebrow.

"Get me the good stuff."

"Of course, sir."

He left and Bruce straightened his jacket and tie methodically, brushing away imaginary dust before smoothing his hair back calmly. Alfred returned with two glasses, Bruce took one and held the other delicately. "Ten minutes."

"You're on." Harvey smirked, checking his watch quietly and watching as Bruce made his way over to Luthor, the charm expected of him practically oozing from his pores.

A moment later the two of them engaged in quiet conversation. Luthor had a smile on his face almost as crooked as he was.

"So, who wants to bet that Luthor will dump his drink on him?" Harvey asked quietly.

"I'd expect for the man to be of more class than that. Probably finish the last of it to prove a point before handing the glass over. You know, social class thing, treat him like one of the servants," Gordon answered quietly. "He has to have noticed that what he's drinking is better than others, leading him to suspect that Bruce has his own supplied."

"Yeah, you're probably right…although it would be pretty funny."

"Oh, well…Bruce is not going to like that." Luthor had placed his arm around his shoulders, treating him like an old friend, that crooked smile turning twisted.

"Hell, I wouldn't like that. If I were Bruce, I would have that suit dry-cleaned."

"I'd burn it."

"That does sound like a reasonable course of action. I shall take it up with Master Bruce when he returns." Alfred raised an eyebrow at the two billionaires as Luthor became progressively more assertive. Gordon and Harvey shared a glance and snickered.

Flash, J'onn, and Superman stared at them, stared at the two men they were watching, and then back at each other. "People in Gotham are nuts," Flash mouthed.

"We prefer to think of it as 'enlightened, sir." Alfred smirked at him when he jumped and turned back to watching. The tone of the conversation changed. Luthor backed off relatively quickly, the smile vanishing behind a frown as Bruce kept talking, smiling politely, but apologetically.

"He's trying to make a deal again? Really?"

"Wait…what's that slip of paper he has?" Harvey asked quietly narrowing his eyes.

"That…oh no. That's a check, isn't it?"

"He wouldn't…he did." Before their very eyes, Luthor took the check, likely of a ridiculously extravagant sum, and tore it to pieces before taking it and shoving it into Bruce's hand. Luthor grinned maliciously, his glass drained before it was shoved in his other hand, the man turning his back and waving over his shoulder as he left.

"Bastard. He'd let a stupid thing like a vendetta get in the way of all these people?"

Bruce looked at the remains of the check in his hand before frowning, looking up after the retreating form and finally returning to them. Harvey accepted the shreds of paper that were offered and examined it as Alfred took the glass. Dent frowned as he noticed all the zeroes that the check would have contained. "Well…think if I taped it back together they'd accept it?" The smile he offered was weak but he didn't seem overly angry, shrugging lightly. "How long did it take?"

Harvey glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow. "Nine minutes, not bad."

"New record."

They talked a bit, finally spreading out, speeches given, Harvey saying a few words and bowing. Bruce himself turned in another check, the amount applauded and cheered for. Finally the night started winding down and Superman walked over to them.

"Gentlemen, it's been fun, really it has, but we have to get going now I think." Superman started, looking around at all the people. Most of them were beginning to leave, it was a late night and some of the children were beginning to slump where they stood.

"Alright. It was nice having you over. You guys were wonderful."

"It was really no trouble, Bruce, it was actually pretty fun."

"Yeah, let's do it again sometime, only next time…let's just try and avoid Luthor." Flash smiled and shook his hand, the rest offering their own. The heroes saluted to the surrounding populace, and without much ado left Gotham, cheers and applause following them in their wake.

"That went well."

"Amazingly well."

It was just as the rest of the guests were leaving, Bruce helping organize some of the cleanup staff, when his phone rang. "Bruce Wayne, may I ask who's calling please?"

"Mr. Wayne…we have a situation."

"Mr. Fox, what's wrong?"

"Our security alarm went off in the research and development wing of Wayne Tech. There's been a robbery."

Why were the heroes never in Gotham when this sort of thing happened?