A/N Oh my word I got so many positive words despite not updating as soon as I wanted to and I just want to thank you guys so much for everything. Reading what you have to say always brightens my mood and makes me want to write more for you, so please don't be afraid to say something. I often respond back actually, especially if you have some nice feedback or tell me you want to see something.

In this Chapter things are actually going to start to get real. My plot is going to be heart wrenching so I hope you enjoy it ;3

Bruce's POV

Arriving at LexCorp Bruce had expected paperazzi to be there, and simply answered questions with his charm and smile. "I'm simply here to talk to Mr. Luthor about some of his work in the science field, seeing as what he does can be visionary. It's simply for more research." And left it at that as he made his way into the building.

Walking up to the secretary he flashed a smile and leaned on the counter. "Hello, I know this is short notice, but I was wondering if Mr. Luthor had time to see me, I wanted to ask about some help understanding certain aspects of transportation and science." it wasn't a lie, and that made it all that much more convincing.

"And to whom is asking for Mr. Luthor?" The woman asked without even looking up from her computer as she typed away.

" Ah, Bruce Wayne." He spoke with an amused tone besides being absolutely annoyed with her. Why were they all this way? What if he had a gun to her head?

Looking up her eyes went wide, and he could see all the makeup caked onto her face. "Ah, let me see what I can do Mr. Wayne." She smiled brightly, and then picked up the phone. Of course now she shot him flirtatious glances and he pretended to be interested in her if only for the sake of getting this to move along faster.

After what seemed like a few minutes, she finally nodded to him. "Mr. Luthor will be able to see you and thanks you for coming to him for assistance. Please take the elevator up to the top floor, he will meet you there." she smiled so wide the detective imagined her cheeks hurt her, and he nodded politely while saying a thank you as he escaped.

What had him a little confused was that she was actually very pretty despite all the makeup, and would have looked better with a little less. Yet, he wasn't interested at all. Normally he would consider asking her to go out sometime and then have to cancel for whatever reason, or leave her at some point in the night because Gotham needed him, and then she would never call him again. Now he simply passed her by without a second thought.

Pushing that aside for the time being he made his way to the elevator where a large man in a suit that had to have been custom made for his stature was waiting in the elevator as it opened. "Mr. Luthor is waiting sir." he gruffed out, and Bruce simply nodded, waiting next to the man calmly.

He pressed the button and then had to enter a password that the dark knight immediately memorized before the elevator lurched its way upwards. Bruce almost felt bad for the machine as it probably had to hold the large man next to him all day.

They made their way up slowly, and when the doors opened it looked like he was in a penthouse not an office. He was escorted in by three guards, and the large man from the elevator. Sitting in a desk that was right in front of the window, Luthor was talking with his weaponised assistant. Granted Luthor didn't know that he knew, but still.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne." The bald man smiled and stood from his desk, adjusting a button on his suit coat. "How very good to see you." He had an almost knowing glint in his eye, and held his hand out for the detective to shake.

Bruce shook his hand and smiled as well. "President Luthor, nice to meet you." He played it up of course, and stuffed his hands into his pockets as they finished shaking each others hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I've heard so much about you from the tabloids after all." Smirking Luthor sat back down and motioned for Bruce to do the same, his bodyguards backing to the door and assistant standing at his side. "I have to say I'm surprised to see you so interested in the world of Science. I heard not too long ago that wasn't exactly your strongest field."

"Well to be honest sir, it's not. That's why I've been going around trying to find people to help me understand some things, maybe to find out if some things are possible." The detective nodded as he sat down crossing one leg over his knee and slouching a little like he usually did when being Bruce Wayne.

"I see, and what kinds of things are you referring to?" The man raised an eyebrow at him, and his all knowing eyes narrowed slightly.

"Teleportation." Bruce smirked, and knew this is where things would become complicated.

Barry's POV

Buzzing around the lab all day wasn't exactly Barry's favorite thing to do, but it was something to do. Wally didn't get done with school for a while now and it seemed to be kind of a calm day in Central City. Time seemed to drag on slowly, mocking him really. So when everything he could do was done, he slumped in his chair, and ordered a pizza.

"Someone's working hard." Joe smirked as he made the comment and walked in the lab.

"hey, I was working hard like two seconds ago." Barry returned the smile and rested back in his chair. "You're just too slow."

"Uh huh, I've noticed. Like how I was the last person in earth to find out you and Iris divorced." Joe raised an eyebrow at him, sitting down in the chair next to the blonde.

Barry frowned and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I just don't know how to bring those kinds of things up and-"

"Barry it's alright, I get it, I just wished you would have said something so I could help you get through it." Joe sighed and looked at Barry with sad eyes. "I only found out because when I mentioned family dinner she told me she didn't plan on being at one for quite some time."

"Why not? If she wants to bring her new boyfriend to meet you I can always stay home and pop over after they leave." Barry frowned a little more and folded his arms a little. The idea Iris had already got together with the man that she cheated on him with stung, but he would deal with it.

"I don't know what her deal is, but she was very open about talking about the divorce. Apparently every reporter she talks to knows. I was just letting you know. You might get a lot of heat." The man sighed, "Though I don't think she's been saying anything bad about you, most people will just assume you did something bad is all."

"Yeah, because most people assume my dad killed my mom." The blonde sighed, and thought about his father, who would most likely die in prison at this point. "Therefor I must have done something horrible, because my family history is against me." Barry looked down at his jeans and picked at a loose string.

"Barry… I don't know what to tell you in this situation, really. Just hang in there okay? Besides, Wally has been telling me all about how you've been hanging out with someone new lately?" The man raised an eyebrow at him, and Barry just looked up with confusion.

"Oh! You mean Bruce! Yeah I guess you could say we've been hanging out. He just was trying to help with the whole Iris situation." Barry waved it off, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but I remember when you knew that kid in college. He was nothing but bad news then and he's nothing but bad news now. I don't even know why you two are suddenly so close." Joe sighed and shook his head.

"He came to me, and even though it was at a bad time and despite us not knowing each other all that well, he helped me through what happened with Iris. Joe he just wants to figure some things out for his company, and so what if I get another friend out of it? It's not like I have anything to lose by that." Barry sighed and rolled his eyes. Even after all these years Joe was still so skeptical.

"Alright alright, but I still don't trust him one bit." The detective shook his head and stood up. "You got everything covered?"

"Yeah, all my work for here is done, promise." Barry flashed smile and waved at the man left. Thinking on it, there really wasn't a reason for Bruce and him to hang around much anymore. Sure they were trying to figure out what was going on with the bad guys, but actual hanging out wasn't a necessity. What was going to happen now?

Bruce's POV

The talk with Luthor was absolutely pointless. Being well rehearsed in keeping secrets, that man wasn't giving anything away on if he did or didn't have the kind of teleportation technology that the League had. Not many people knew about it, and those that did usually used it for a living.

So after a very long while and some long winded speeches Bruce finally escaped. Of course he placed bugs everywhere but the bachelor doubted they would do much good really. It was a good thing they were temporary and disintegrated after a while. This was going to be much more difficult than he originally thought it was going to be.

"Alfred, Luthor was a dead end. I can't tell if he's holding anything back or if he's simply just not there yet." Bruce huffed as he slammed the car door.

"Well I could have told you that, sir. He's just about as secretive as you are." The butler sighed through the phone. "I hope you realize that show has started already."

"Yeah well I didn't anticipate being there that long. That man loves to hear himself talk." Bruce rolled his eyes and sped out of the parking lot. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. Just… Look to see if there's anything going on in Gotham or Central City in the next few weeks or so."

"Oh? What for? Do you wish to attend another charity ball?" Alfred asked and the faint typing of keys could be heard.

"No, Barry and I have been rather busy lately, I told him we would hang out again soon, so is there anything we both might enjoy going on?" The detective asked as he drove through traffic, sighing in an agitated manner when there was a large traffic jam.

"Oh well alright then. Let's see… on next Thursday there is a Charity event run by the very infamous Lex Luthor to raise money for the Meta Humans who wish to be cured of their predicament, that might be interesting. There is a large community event for Central City on Sunday, it's to celebrate the crime going down and such, all proceeds go to the city to help pay for roads and buildings and such. In Gotham there is a Masquerade event happening in exactly two weeks from now, it doesn't say why, but I presume for a birthday party. I believe you were invited sir." As Alfred listed them off Bruce went over them in his head. Barry would for sure love the community event, and would probably go with Wally anyway. The Masquerade however interested him for whatever reason.

"Clear my schedule for the Central City event, Dick and I will accompany Barry if he's free, and then could you send a reply as a yes plus one to the Masquerade? I feel that's something Barry would enjoy as an adult and not the three year old in his mind." The detective chuckled a little and shook his head, inching forward in traffic.

"Really sir? Alright then, should I call him and ask?" The butler offered, but there was something in his voice, surprise maybe.

"No, I'll do it later. He's probably at work or just heading home. I'll see you two when I get there." Bruce responded and then hung up. Sitting in the traffic jam the dark knight sighed, and tried to pay attention to the boring lurching movements, but his mind wandered.

Why was he so attached to Barry suddenly? It's not like they had much in common, and before now Bruce found the speedster rather irritating. Yet they were acting like they had been friends for a long time and it felt that way. He supposed it was because he never really did… hang out with people much. The only person he ever had was Rachel and….

Bruce sighed and shook his head. Barry and Rachel were similar in many ways, they were both the best of humanity, and he supposed that was why they got along so well. Leaving it at that, The dark knight eventually made his way out of traffic and on his way to Gotham.

Waiting until about nine in the evening, Bruce had that new feature in his car call Barry.

"Yello'?" The blonde answered, seemingly out of breath for a moment.

"Busy there Allen?" Bruce asked with a slight smirk on his lips.

"Ha ha, I was actually rearranging my living room and kitchen and stuff, thank you." Barry responded with a cheeky grin most likely, it was odd how he could almost hear it.

"Really? Well I'll give you that, I didn't know you could lift a couch by yourself." The detective teased lightly and turned onto the exit he needed. "I was actually calling to ask you about a few things."

"Oh my god does Bruce Wayne have a sense of humor?!" Barry responded just as cheekily as before, and the man heard a sight whoosh of air as the speedster was probably running around fixing everything. "What's up?" He added to the end with a chuckle.

"I heard about that event happening at Central City, the one happening in the park. Would you mind If Dick and I came with you at all?" He opened with that one, considering it was closer anyway.

"Of course! No guarantees that everything goes alright though. I've heard that there might be a few perps in town, bad ones." The blonde responded, and then got a ping. "Ah, hang on a sec Bruce." Another whoosh or two, and about fifteen seconds, Barry was back on the line. "Alright, back."

"Small robbery I'm assuming?" The detective asked, as he finally hit Gotham.

"Yeah, some teenagers looking for some easy cash, I scared them off so hopefully they'll stay away from things like that." Barry sighed, and through the phone he could hear the slight scraping of wood on the floor.

"Sometimes I think you're too soft on kids." Bruce sighed and shook his head.

"Sometimes I think you're too hard on them." Came as the reply, some light wind being heard in the background.

"Alright alright, but I have another question for you." The detective shook his head, stopping at a red light. "I was invited to a party two weeks from now, it's got a Masquerade theme to it, and I was wondering if you'd want to go with me at all. It seemed like somethin-"

"Seriously?! A Masquerade Ball! I am so there! That's so amazingly cool Bruce!" The black haired male jumped slightly as Barry responded so enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to go to one! I think it's so stupid that every year I suggest that for the League party it's shut down."

"Really?" Bruce laughed a little "I figured you'd like it but not this much."

"Uh, Bruce, Masquerade Balls are the PERFECT place to find somebody. Just think about it, usually the gay guys are more open because you can't see them, and the women LOVE the mystery of not knowing exactly who their dance partner is. That's basic science right there." The blonde explained with that tone of 'everybody knows this'.

"I suppose that does make sense. Since when are you an expert on picking up women… and men." the man wondered, pulling into the driveway at Wayne Manor.

"Since I got a divorce and have had three people give me their number. Being a superhero really helps with the being single portion of the gig." He laughed, and seemed to stop moving thing around.

"I guess it does. Well I'm glad that you said yes because if you didn't I would have had to find an actual date instead of take a friend, and that would have been awful." The detective said without thinking as he pulled into the garage.

The line was silent for a bit, Barry being unusually quiet before "You consider us friends?" It wasn't rude, or snarky, but a genuine question. Something Bruce could understand why he was being asked.

"Yeah, I guess I do consider us friends." He mused after a moment of thought. "It's weird saying it out loud, like we're some teenagers in highschool." He chuckled a little.

"You're right." Barry laughed as well, and as their laughter died down he added "I consider you my friend too, though."

"I'm glad." And it wasn't a lie, or something that he just said to make the blonde feel better. He was genuinely happy to have someone he could call a friend again. "Well I'm home, and I'm sure Dick is furious that I wasn't home in time to watch that show with him before patrol."

"I bet, so see you on Sunday?" Barry's voice sounded like he was smiling again, and Bruce could just see him resting on the couch with a grin on his face.

"See you on Sunday." He nodded, and then hung up the phone. As he walked inside, the detective wondered how it could have gone from gaining trust and trying to see what was inside the speedsters head to being friends with him. It was a mission before, but now….

Heading to the cave and getting dressed, his mind wandered to the idea of having a friend. It truly did make him happy, a feeling only Dick or Alfred could usually stir up in him anymore.

"What's so funny?" he suddenly heard Robin ask, dressed and ready for patrol already.

It was in that moment he realized that he had been smiling. "Ah, nothing." Was his response, and with that, they headed out to protect their city.

A/N Again, I'm sorry that it's taking long for chapters, just between work and then working on props for the con I'm going to in November I'm doing the best that I can.

However! I hoped you liked the chapter, and the ideas that I have for later with the Masquerade Ball/Party depending on what you wanna call it, and hope to see you at the next chapter!