Author's Note: Alright, I've solved the shit out of my plot problem. I've come up with some ideas that should spice things up, and even plug up some plot holes that were starting to worry me. But for now, I'm going to take things a bit slow (MAJOR SAP WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AHEAD). But now that I've finished a rough storyboard, I can predict about 15 chapters, more or less. A bit on the short side, but eh. On the other hand... More on that after the chapter, actually.

Bruce slowly opened his eyes, but was immediately blinded by sudden brightness. He reflexively tried to spring out of bed and into a defensive position, but found that he was too sore to move more than a few inches. He tried to lift his head, but it was too heavy; he groaned and fell back into a lying position.

"Morning." Diana said, rising from the cot that she'd been sleeping on, yawning and stretching, "How'd you sleep?"

"What the Hell is going on? I can barely move?"

"Hardly surprising; you've been out cold for nearly three days. Everybody's been worried; they'll be glad to hear that you're finally awake."

Memories of the night at Arkham rushed back to Bruce; he fought back shivers and focused on what was important. "Did everybody else make it out?"

"We're all fine... You being the obvious exception. But we need information. We've detained everybody that we found at the hospital. We just need confirmation from you."

"His name is Strange. Hugo Strange. And I doubt that you'll have found him there. He's nothing if not smart; he'll have made an escape plan. He had all off this planned, and he played us every single step of the way."

"Well, you're right about that." Diana said, checking a slip of paper on the bedside table. "He was listed among the unaccounted for staff."

"Anything else that I should know?"

"We found seven dead staff and several missing patients, including-"

"Let me guess. The Joker and the Scarecrow?"

"The very same." She said sadly. "Other notable escapees include one Waylon Jones, Garfield Lynns, Jervis Tetch, and Victor Zsasz"

"Terrific." Bruce forced himself into an upright position, but Diana pushed him back down.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I have business to take care of."

"And what 'business' would that be?"

"I need to have a chat with an old acquaintance."

"Not today, you don't. If it's that important, then you can send somebody else. But you're staying here until you've been checked out, so you might as well rest. For now, you're on lockdown. And if you try to get out, I'll knock you out again myself." She headed for the door, pausing before crossing the threshold. "It's good to have you back, Bruce."

Bruce awakened once again several hours later, having been alerted to the sounds of conversation. He opened his eyes just enough to see who was there; he immediately recognized the dark red hair of Barbara Gordon (formerly Batgirl, now operating as Oracle) and the black and blue jumpsuit of Dick Grayson (Batman's first protege, now operating out of Bludhaven as Nightwing).

"I just wish that he wasn't so stubborn all the time." Barbara was saying. "I mean, I think that it would be good for him to genuinely enjoy himself every now and then."

"You might be right, Babs, but maybe it's for the best." Dick said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I mean, he gets what, three hours of sleep a night? Imagine how much sleeping with Wonder Woman could cut into- oh, hey Bruce..." He trailed off awkwardly. "I didn't know you were awake." Bruce continued to stare at him. "Alrighty, then. So... How're ya feeling Bruce?" He murmured in a rather transparent attempt to change the subject.

"Better." Bruce said stiffly. "Any news about the Asylum?"

"I've got a couple of bodies down at Gotham PD that are almost definitely Zsazz's work. Croc seems to be keeping his head down, but we've got some reports of massive droppings in the sewers that are almost definitely his." He took a quick look at the list of missing inmates. "The Mad Hatter and Firefly are off the grid, and it we haven't heard so much as a giggle from the Joker."

"And Strange?"

"Nothing, Bruce." Barbara said. "I combed his financial records and his paperwork, but I didn't get much. He's a master of analytical psychology, and he's spent a lot of time overseas, presumably studying."

"We could have guessed that much." Bruce said, closing his eyes in thought. "He's playing us. Nothing on the financial records?"

"I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

"I figured as much. He must be covering his tracks somehow. Probably going through money launderers... Send me a copy anyway. I'm starting up a file on him."

"Good plan, Bruce. What then?"

"It depends on what we find." Bruce said Grimly. "He's smart. We may have no choice but to wait until he makes his next move."

"Uh oh." Dick said. "That really doesn't sound good."

"It's not. He's a grinder; he'll make sure that he has the advantage before he plays his hand. We have to trick him into thinking that he can beat us."

"Sounds good. Any ideas on how we'd go about doing that?"

"A few."

"Feel like sharing any of them?"

"No."

"Well okay, then. Nice chatting with you, I guess." Dick said sarcastically.

"Seriously, Bruce, are you alright?" Barbara asked, sounding concerned. "You don't sound like yourself today."

"I've got a lot to think about. I'll be fine."

"Alright, just get some rest. Me and Dick can take care of Gotham for a couple of days."

After Dick and Barbara left, Bruce spent the next hour alone in the dark, formulating countless strategies and counterstrategies. He pored over his compiled notes on Hugo Strange, attempting to predict what Strange would do next until J'onn came to check on his condition.

"How are you feeling?" The Martian asked in his dull, flat voice.

"I can't move." Bruce said bitterly.

"Unsurprising, given the amount of bruising and muscle damage you've sustained. But that should not be an issue, assuming that you take the proper amount of time to recuperate."

"Unlikely at best."

"I thought as much. As I am more concerned with your mental state, I recommend a short period for psychiatric evaluation."

"Not on your life."

"It couldn't hurt to ask." J'onn sighed. "But we must decide on our next course of action."

"I've been working on it. It's useless. We don't know enough about Strange to anticipate him. Even I can't make head or tails of what he thinks he's playing at. He captures me, captures the others, releases me for the others... It makes no sense. Until we know his endgame, we don't have much of a shot at guessing his next move."

"Then we must take defensive measures. It seems likely that he will target the other members of the League; we will be dividing into pairs until he Strange is neutralized."

"Let me guess-"

"Diana will be staying with you. Her false papers and alias are already in place."

"I didn't know that matchmaker had been added to your list of duties." Bruce said bitingly. "But I can take care of myself."

"This is not up for debate." The Martian said forcefully. "I have spent the last three days formulating strategies. John and Shayera, Wally and Clark, You and Diana. Teams that are conductive to teamwork, and balance super strength and hand-to-hand combat experience, as well as other skills. You and Diana have proven to be a capable squad time and time again." His expression softened slightly. "You know, you owe her a great deal. Had it not been for her accompaniment, it is entirely possible I would not have been not have been able to restore your mind."

"You brought her into my head?"

"As usual, you show an unusual aptitude for deflection. But my decision stands. Now, I believe that this concludes the evaluation. You should be restored to full health in a matter of days."

"Fine."

"Excellent. John's outside; he would like a word, assuming you're feeling up to it."

"Fine."

The Martian left the room, signaling for the Green Lantern to enter. He approached the bed and sat down in a chair.

"Well?" Batman groaned, his chest beginning to ache."

"I just figured that I'd stop by to say thanks." John said. "You really went through a lot of trouble to save our asses back there, and I wouldn't feel right if I didn't thank you for it."

"Well you know what they say." Batman said with a roguish smile. "First one in, last one out."

"Oo-rah." John grinned broadly. "Anyone ever tell you that you would've made one hell of a Marine?"

"Funnily enough, that's not the sort of thing that you hear too often when you have a reputation as a playboy billionaire. Besides, I'm not exactly a team player."

"You risked your ass for us, and that's good enough for me." His smile faded slightly. "I know you don't want to hear this, but we need to talk about Diana."

"Again?"

"Listen, you don't want to come to terms with this. I get that as well as anyone else, trust me. But you didn't see her while you were missing. You thought she had a temper before? I heard from Flash that she nearly dislocated some thug's shoulder with her boot trying to figure out where they were keeping you."

"She always was a quick study."

"Yes, you're a bad influence. Not the point that I was trying to make. She was beyond pissed. I was worried that she was going to go berserk and kill someone."

"What's your point?"

"You're the 'world's greatest detective'. You can figure it out. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Hell, half the goddamned Watchtower knows. So why can't you just admit it to yourself and make it that much easier for everyone involved?"

"It's... Complicated."

"Has she ever tried to sell out the entire planet to an invasive alien species? You don't know complicated." John said, sounding slightly bitter.

"Why do you care?" Bruce asked. "My personal life is none of your business."

"I watch out for my friends. I don't want to see you get screwed over. The same goes for her." John let out a deep sigh. "You remember when we went to the future? And we met your older self?"

"Kind of hard to forget, really."

"Well is that who you want to be? Old, bitter, and alone?"

"If that's what I have to do to keep Gotham safe, then that's who I'll be."

John rolled his eyes. "It's not up to you. You have a life to live too, and you've already given up plenty of it. As a matter of fact, I think that you know that. I think that at this point, you're just hiding."

"You're way out of line." Bruce growled, anger becoming evident on his face.

John took a deep breath to calm himself. "You're right. I have no right to be saying these things. And I'm sorry. But I'll stand by what I said." He paused for a moment. "And I feel like I should remind you that she's an Amazon Princess."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, if you don't make your move soon, somebody will. Hell, it might be Flash, for that matter. You have a chance. You should take it. It's as simple as that."

"Are you speaking from experience?"

"You know...Trust is important." John said slowly, seemingly out of nowhere. "It's not easy to find people that you can trust." He stood up and strode over to the window, and gazed out into space. "Yeah, I'm speaking from experience. I've come to terms with it. I loved her, but I held a grudge. It seemed big and important at the time, but I can see now that it was nothing. But I held onto that grudge, and I nearly lost her forever." He turned back to Bruce. "Life isn't always easy. Lord knows that you of all people know that. But it doesn't always have to be hard. Sometimes the hard choice doesn't have to be hard. I'm glad that I figured myself out in time. But I'd hate to see you make the same mistakes that I almost did." He gave Bruce a gentle pat on the shoulder. "You know, you take some warming up to, but you're good people, Bruce. It's good to have someone to talk to every now and then."

"I guess so."

"So... Everything else aside, thanks for saving all of our asses."

"I watch out for my friends."

"And we appreciate it. But you don't need to be so hard on yourself all the time."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. I'll let you get some rest, and hopefully you'll be up again in no time." He made for the door, but Bruce stopped him.

"John... Thanks."

"No problem. It's good to have somebody to confide in, after all." He flicked off the lights, leaving Bruce with a great deal to ponder.

Author's Note: Because Batman wouldn't be Batman if he wasn't stubborn as a muleA bit sappy at some points, but it does the job. I might come back to it later to remove some of the sap, but now is a time to plunge ahead.

I've been working on this on and off since Monday, and it's finally finished. Hopefully the next one won't take as long. On the other hand, it's probably going to be a good bit shorter.

I've always really liked the interaction between Batman and GL; they really seem to get each other. It seems like they have the same driven mentality.

Unleash the Shadow: Ah, but it's not quite a conclusion. On the contrary, the struggle has only just begun.

Strike300 and RFK22: Thanks for the support, and I hope that it didn't disappoint! And if it did... Well, I'll just have to try harder next time then.

The Fiery Apprentice: Funny, I was drawing on the hallucinations from Arkham Asylum, obviously adjusted to reflect a heavier dosage. And I've heard a lot of good things about the new 52, but yikes- $25-$30 for six issues is pretty steep. I'll get around to it eventually, though. And I'm glad that you're looking forward to the next segment, especially now that I have a kind of faint idea of what it is. So trust me, I'm just as excited to see how this pans out as anyone else.

You can all ignore these last few lines: the only reason that they're here is to push me over the edge into a seventh page. It's a point of pride.