Thanks for all the support! Hope you guys love the Batman / Batwoman action in this update! :)

Chapter 11

Gotham; June 2nd, 22:23 EST

Batman parked the Batmobile in a side alley a couple of blocks away from the strip bar Kinks. Exiting, he cast a sidelong glance at her, hoping she was up for the task. "Do you remember everything I told you?" he gruffly asked.

"Yes, Batman," she dutifully stated, knowing that she was going to have to prove herself all over again in his eyes. Though she had gained his respect within the Justice League and as his wife, she would still need to gain his respect as part of the Batclan. That was going to be no simple task."No meta strength."

"And?"

It was her turn to glare at him as her hands found her hips. "No flying."

"Do you remember how to use the grappling gun?"

"I guess we'll see now won't we?" she snapped, growing irritated.

"Stay behind me and let me do the talking," he instructed her.

"Would you like me to polish your boots and clean your cape or maybe you'd prefer I just stay in the car and wait for you like an obedient little puppy?"

"Fine with me," he retorted. "Then, I won't have to worry about the trouble you'll get yourself into."

"I am not a child," she sneered at him. "If you continue to treat me like one, I will go find Robin to help."

He abruptly stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly to the angry Amazon behind him. "Don't you dare," he stated. "You're with me until I deem you're ready to go out with Robin or on your own."

"You are really pushing it," she hissed.

"Then go home," he growled, resuming down the alley.

Diana drew a couple of deep breaths to keep from pummeling him right here in the alley, knowing that would not be a pretty sight for the citizens of Gotham to see. She was going to have to swallow her pride for now and have it out with him later when they got home about treating her like an equal instead of a rookie with absolutely no experience.

She knew he was trying to push her to point she would just give up and go home, but she wasn't about to allow that to happen. He was very stubborn, but so was she. She was going to prove to him that she deserved to be out here whether he liked it or not.

Approaching the end of the alley, Batman paused, peering around the corner. He signaled her to follow him. She bit her bottom lip, forcing herself to swallow a biting retort about being summoned like some pet. She reminded herself that she was the one who had wanted to be out here with him like this.

His city, his rules.

She followed him around the corner, watching as he fired his grappling gun. His line drew him up to the roof, his black cape whipping behind him as he disappeared over the ledge. She quickly copied his move, landing on top of the roof beside him with surprising skill despite not being able to use her god-given abilities.

He silently turned his back to her, making his way to the other end of the building. Coming to stand beside him, Diana spotted the 1968 Shelby parked in the back of the strip bar. Sam Ramirez was in there. Now, it was just a waiting game until he came out.

She released an annoyed sigh, crossing her arms against her chest as she turned to sit on the ledge. Batman shot her look that spoke volumes, but she wasn't in the mood. "What?" she demanded to know.

"Patience is definitely not your strong suit," he stated, leaning forward to study the area.

"You just now figured that out?" she retorted. "We've known each other for almost seven years. I thought you would have figured it out soon after we first met."

He knew that he had pushed her earlier, but he had hoped that she'd get angry with him and go home. That plan had failed miserably except for one thing—he now had an irate Amazon with him instead of at home where she should be.

He had only himself to blame. It was going to be a long night unless he did something to ease the angry tension crackling between them. He couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself as he was unexpectedly taken back in time to a night much like this. It had been one in which he had been secretly struggling with his attraction to her at the time, coming up with a logical list of reasons and ways of dealing with it.

At least he had thought so at the time. Now, looking back on it, he realized how ludicrous and rehearsed it had all sounded. It had been plainly obvious that he had spent considerable time thinking it over after giving her his list of reasons.

She cocked her head to the side as she studied him, trying to figure out why he was suddenly so amused. "What?"

"Just remembering the stakeout you and I did in Gotham the night Circe turned you into a pig," he revealed. "You were pretty impatient then too…not to mention determined."

Diana couldn't help but chuckle as well, remembering how he had shot her down that night. "Yes, I was," she agreed. "Despite all your absurd reasons, I eventually managed to get you to change your mind."

"I had no choice," he countered. "You wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

"I always get what I want," she told him. "Besides, it didn't take that long after you rattled off your reasons not to get involved for you to change your mind. It was a few weeks after you, John, and I returned from the future. Even though I don't remember any of it, something must have happened to make you decide to pursue a relationship with me."

"Something did happen," he said, his chest clenching with the memory of her disappearing right before his eyes.

"You've never talked about it," she gently reminded him.

"John and I wrote our mission reports."

"I know…I read them," she replied. "They didn't shed any light on what had caused your change of heart."

"There was never a change of heart, Princess," he softly confessed, his focus solely on the strip bar. "I was in love with you long before we went to the future. I just wasn't willing to admit it to anyone let alone myself."

"So what happened?"

Several long moments passed by without an answer, the rigid tension in his body making him seem as if he had abruptly turned to stone. Whatever had happened to him, whatever he had experienced in that mission had affected him deeply, far more than even she had even realized.

Just when she was about to give up, he spoke, his voice rough with emotion. "You, John, and I had chased Chronos into the future where we met my future self. I was old…very bitter and alone. I had a protégé who had taken over the cape and cowl, but I had absolutely nothing else—no happiness, no love, no warmth in my life. It was a very cold existence.

"The look on my older self's face when he first saw you told me everything that I needed to know. He had chosen Gotham over you and was paying a very steep price for it."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, almost afraid to breath for fear he'd stop talking.

"Then, you just suddenly disappeared right before our eyes," he continued as if not hearing her. "I lunged for you, trying to grab hold of you, but you were gone. I couldn't save you. Because of the change in the timeline, you either never left Themyscira or you never existed.

"After John and I stopped Chronos, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. I wrestled with what to do about my future. I analyzed every single angle…every possible outcome depending on what path I chose to take.

"The one thing that I knew with absolute certainty, though, was that I loved you more than life itself and the thought of never seeing you again was absolutely crushing."

"I never knew," she whispered, stunned by the revelation. "You were gone for weeks after that mission, missing League meetings and avoiding the Watchtower…and me. I was worried about you. You wouldn't take my calls or my hails on your comm link. I thought you were angry with me about something."

"I know," he confessed with a nod without meeting her intense gaze. "There were so many times that I was on the verge of answering you, hundreds of times I started to call you myself, but I needed time to sort things out in my head.

"Don't think, though, that I wasn't still keeping tabs on you. I knew every single mission you went on, every criminal you apprehended and every injury you received, your exact location at any given moment of the day."

"So you were secretly stalking me?" she teased. "That's not…neurotic."

A lop-sided smirk formed on his face, so incongruous with the cowl he wore. "I guess if you want to call it that," he said. "I'd prefer to call it practical concern for a teammate. If I couldn't allow myself to see you or talk to you, I damn-well had to know what you were doing and where you were."

As she stared at him, she found herself wanting to kiss him, to hold him close and show him just how much she truly loved him. "Why didn't you ever tell me this?"

"I don't know," he thoughtfully confessed. "I finally decided that I couldn't stay away from you any longer. That's when I returned to find you and Superman spending so much time together, having private meetings in the commissary and whispering in corners. I saw the picture of you and Superman together in the newspaper and well…you know what happened next.

"Things between us just progressed so well from there. Then, you were pregnant and it didn't seem to be important anymore. You were mine and that was all that mattered in the world to me."

Diana had somehow lost all the anger and the irritation that had been trickling through her veins just moments ago, filled now with such an overwhelming sense of love for this man by her side. Despite his countless demons that reared their ugly head when she least expected it; he was still the most incredible man that she had ever known.

She reached out, laying her hand on his forearm, forcing him to look at her. "I wouldn't trade this life with you for anything the world could possibly offer," she told him.

"Me either…Batwoman," he replied, the corner of his lips twitching.

They waited in companionable silence for well over an hour, watching as patrons arrived and others left. They both straightened the moment they saw Sam Ramirez exiting the strip bar, heading straight for his car with a pleased smile on his face.

"Well, he definitely looks happy," Diana commented with a disgusted in her voice.

"Let's go," he stated, turning and racing to the other end of the building before leaping over the edge.

She just shook her head in disbelief as she followed him, allowing her ability to fly to safely land on the pavement below. She just hoped she didn't get in trouble for it, but she didn't want to keep him waiting. She feared he'd just leave her behind if she took too long.

She raced to the Batmobile, Batman already revving the engine, more than ready to follow him. As soon as she climbed in, he took off in pursuit, following him from a distance to see where he would go. With any luck, he would lead them to whoever was possibly behind this underground fight club.

He was more than determined to get this fight club dismantled as soon as possible so he could focus on the turf war that was threatening to tear Gotham apart. He secretly feared just how far things were going to go or what it was going to take to finally put an end to it once and for all.

Glancing at him, Diana could tell her husband was in full Bat-mode, knowing better than to ask questions or break his concentration. He was obviously trying to work something out in his head and wouldn't share his thoughts with her until he was good and ready.

There were the moments when he would actually talk to her about a case he was working in Gotham, one that he was in desperate need of an outsider's eyes to help him see things in a different light. Right now was not one of those times, but she was all right with it.

Allowing her to come out on patrol with him was an enormous step for him, one that he didn't take lightly and she was definitely not going to take for granted.

Diana shifted in her seat as they took a corner a little sharper than anticipated. She was growing anxious to get her hands on Sam Ramirez, knowing that he could hold the key to this whole investigation. At the same time, she knew they couldn't pin their entire hope on him. He might not know anything about what was going on with the fight club, the shared gambling problem between Jacobson and Mathis nothing more than a coincidence.

She knew, though, that Bruce didn't believe in coincidence and she wasn't entirely a believer either. The information that she and Oracle had gathered so far kept pointing to these bookies having some sort of knowledge of what was going on.

She watched as Ramirez pulled off a side road at the outskirts of town, one that was dimly lit and deserted for the most part. Batman slowed down, staying back and allowing the bookie to hopefully lead them to the information that they were sorely lacking.

They were in a part of Gotham that Diana was definitely not familiar with. Not that she knew Gotham as well as Bruce, of course, but the sinister air that enveloped them was causing the fine hairs to prickle on the back of her neck. It was eerie to say the least.

Bruce noticed as her gauntleted fingers tightened on the door handle of the Batmobile. He knew that she had never seen this particular part on the outskirts of the city. It definitely wasn't an area that you brought anyone you loved to, not if you valued their life at all.

He had a feeling where Ramirez was heading. There wasn't much down here except for an old abandoned mansion that was rumored to be haunted. No one dared to approach it out of fear; the rumors about what had happened here keeping even the most curious of adventurers from checking it out.

The Watson Mansion had been built back in the seventeen hundreds, passed down through the family until the nineteen forties when Arthur Watson lost his mind and murdered his entire family, including the butler and maid, in an effort to save them from the grip of the devil that he felt possessed the house. They say his wife and six children haunt the mansion to this day, their souls struggling to return to human form.

He decided he'd better share that story with Diana another time, especially with how apprehensive she was becoming. He knew it wasn't fear that had gotten a hold of her now, but the anticipation of finally getting Ramirez and finding out what he knew about the fight club.

She was almost like a caged animal anxious to attack, her warrior spirit having risen to the surface and ready for battle. He could almost feel the trapped energy teeming inside of her, anxious for release. He just hoped it didn't manifest itself in a meta-strength punch or her new secret identity was as good as exposed.

Batman pulled the car off the side of the road, watching as Ramirez drove down a small side road, parking in front of a barn. Bruce knew there were several out buildings on the property behind the mansion as well as a large horse stable. He hadn't been out here for quite some time, never having a reason to until now.

"Follow me," he told his wife as he quickly exited the car.

Batwoman silently followed him, the feel of her cape whipping behind her as she ran creating a faint tugging sensation that she hadn't had a chance to grow accustomed to yet. It felt unusual, but, of course, so did not being able to use her powers.

They stole through the darkness, approaching the barn and whatever awaited them inside of it. She stayed close behind him, but not so close that he couldn't do what he needed to. She felt herself slipping into the all too familiar pattern of Batman and Wonder Woman, working side by side like they always had since they had first met.

They moved like two parts of the same whole as they pressed their backs against the side of the barn. She waited patiently as Batman inched closer to a window, peeking inside. He used hand signals to let her know they were going in and that she should follow.

She silently nodded her head in understanding before they crept around to the back of the barn, scaling the side of it in order to enter through the hay loft. She couldn't help but wonder if this dilapidated old barn would even stay together long enough to hold both of their weight.

She fought against the urge to fly, knowing she had to play by Bruce's handbook or reap the consequences of keeping the bats company in the cave while he went out on patrol. She wasn't about to let that happen any time soon.

The old boards softly moaned as they slowly made their way across the loft. The musty smell of hay as well as something Diana didn't want to dwell on filled the air as they carefully peered over the edge at Sam Ramirez down below. He was sitting at a makeshift table, looking through his phone and jotting down something on a notepad.

Batman quickly scanned the area, taking in his surroundings and seeing everything at once. Ramirez had set himself up in a rather clever hideout. No one would dare set foot on the property, making it secure against prying eyes.

He waited and watched, learning as much as possible and hoping that someone would arrive that would shed even more light on who was behind the fight club. He smiled to himself, knowing that his wife had to be getting antsy with all of this waiting and hiding in the shadows. He had to give her credit, though. She'd been far more patient than he had expected her to be.

"Yah, it's Ramirez," Sam answered his phone. "What's taking you so long? No, I need the money by tomorrow tonight. If not, you know the consequences."

Crouching low, Batman leaned ever so slightly forward closer to the railing, listening intently to the conversation below. If he could figure out who Ramirez was talking to, it could lead him to bigger fish that needed to be fried.

"It'll get very ugly if I don't get my money," Ramirez continued to rant to whoever he was talking to. "Yah, well, I got mouths to feed too. I don't care if you have to rob a bank to get it, I want my money."

Ramirez slammed his phone down on the makeshift table before standing to his feet. He began pacing back and forth, swearing under his breath. Batman began to make his move, ready to have a little face to face time when the sound of a car forced him back beside Diana.

A couple of minutes later, a couple of men walked in that Batman didn't recognize. Ramirez instantly turned towards them. "Where have you two been?" Ramirez demanded. "You were both supposed to be here already when I arrived."

"We got delayed," one of the men responded, rubbing his shaved head somewhat anxiously. "He made us wait until he was done with his other business first."

"Did you get our cut?"

"Right here," the second guy said, pulling a large roll of bills out of his coat pocket.

Ramirez's anger quickly turned into pleasure as he reached for the money with a huge grin. "We got that much?"

The guy with the wad of cash abruptly jerked his hand back with a dark scowl on his face. "Hold it right there," he stated. "We want to get our take first."

Ramirez's happiness was very short-lived as his glared shifted from one of his partners to the other and back again. "I gave you your take the last two times. What makes you think that I won't this time?"

"It's not that we don't think you won't give us what's rightly ours," the man with the cash told him as he began to unfold the bills. "We just think we deserve more money."

Ramirez burst into laughter, much to the surprise of his two partners. "You really think you two deserve more money?"

"Yah, we think that it's high time we take over the business ourselves," the first guy told him. "No sense cutting you in on the action."

"Oh, you think so," Ramirez commented, abruptly pulling his gun and pointing it at them.

Within seconds, all three had their guns aimed, tension enveloping the entire barn. "Now, let's talk about this," the guy with the money said. "We don't need to kill each other over a few extra bills. If we're all dead, then no one is getting the money."

Ramirez pointed his gun at the one with his money. "Then hand it over and we'll just pretend that nothing ever happened."

"I'm not sure I'm ready to part with it just yet," he retorted.

"How about sharing it with me instead?"

All three men turned to find the Batman landing on the ground several feet away from them, an unfamiliar woman dressed in black standing to his right and behind him a little. She looked just has intimidating and frightening as the original despite her long legs and flawless figure.

"Batman!" Ramirez yelled, pointing his gun towards him.

The three men who were ready to shoot each other, now banded together against a common enemy and his unknown partner. "Give up, Ramirez," Batman growled.

Ramirez laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I think it's you and your pretty little partner there who has the disadvantage."

A thin, amused smile formed on Batman's face, his one hand gripping a batarang. "I wouldn't underestimate her," he warned them. "You'd be better off facing me than her."

"Take them both out," Ramirez ordered his two partners.

"Gladly," they agreed in unison.

They instantly started firing their guns as Batman and Batwoman ducked for cover, Diana fighting against the instinct to use her bracers to block the bullets. Batman threw a batarang, knocking the gun out of Ramirez's hand.

Sammy cursed as he held his hand, deciding it was best to get out of here while he could still walk under his own power. Turning, he ran towards the side door of the barn only to be taken down by a bola wrapping around his legs. He quickly flipped over, panic creeping over him at the sight of Batman descending on him, a sneer on his lips.

Batwoman inched her way closer to the other two, the sudden clicking of empty gun chambers filling her ears. She instantly leapt into action, coming over the top of some rusted farm equipment and pouncing on one of the men. The thug didn't know what hit him as she knocked the air from his lungs, her fist connecting with his jaw.

The second guy didn't get far as she tackled him to the ground next. He fought back with all that he had, rolling each other over in an attempt to gain the upper hand, but he was no match for the Amazon warrior in disguise. She ducked under a flying fist, catching his other hand that was coming up with a two-by-four he'd managed to get his hand on. She wrenched it free from his hand and tossed it aside.

"No fair," she told him, hauling him up onto his feet only to knock him out right hook.

Dropping him on the ground like a sack of wet cement, Batwoman stood to her feet, turning to check on her partner only to find him standing there studying her, a grim look on his face. She frowned at him as she straightened up. "What?"

"Nothing," he snapped. "Let's get them cuffed. We'll start questioning Ramirez."

"I don't know anything," Ramirez claimed as Batman turned and hauled him up onto his feet by the front of his shirt.

"You might want to reconsider that answer," Batman growled, his grip tightening on the front of Ramirez's shirt as he drew him in closer. "I need answers and my patience is running very thin so I'd start talking now if I were you."

"I'm more scared of them than I am of you," Ramirez spat out. "The worse you could do to me won't even come close to what they'll do to me if I talk."

"Are you sure about that?" Batwoman questioned him as she stepped closer, coming to stand beside Batman with a batarang in her hand.

She slowly dragged the edge of the batarang along his cheek and jaw, causing Batman to tense. He wasn't quite certain how far she was going to take her threat, but it seemed to prove effective as all the color drained from Ramirez's face.

"You better start telling us what we want to know," Batman threatened him. "She's not nearly as patient as I am."

Diana smiled something wicked at him that caused a shiver to race up Batman's spine as she tapped Ramirez's temple with the tip of the batarang. "Think hard, Sam," she practically purred. "Who is running the underground fight club?"

Ramirez swallowed hard despite the fact that Batman had set him back down on the ground and had loosened his hold on his shirt. "I…I don't know the name."

Batman shoved him up against the nearest wall with a growl in his chest, his forearm coming to rest against Ramirez's throat. "Then tell us what you do know," he rasped.

"I just refer guys looking to make money and get outta debt to this guy named Ray over on Sixteenth Street. He's the in-between guy."

"What else?" Batman demanded.

Ramirez was trembling with fear now as he stood with his back pressed up against a wall and two dark vigilantes in front of him. He knew he was as good as dead anyway. There was no way out for him except for the morgue now. He slumped against the wall, trying to keep his legs from giving out on him.

"All I know is that there's this underground fight club that started a little over a month ago," he began. "The payout is huge if you win, but if you lose—"

"You die," Batman finished for him.

"Exactly," Ramirez confirmed, nodding his head as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his shirt sleeve.

"And people still try it knowing they could die?" Batwoman asked, disbelief in her voice.

"Everyone has the potential do anything no matter the risks if they're desperate enough, honey," Ramirez told her. "Besides, they're guys lining up for a chance to dethrone the current champ. I heard the payout now is nearly a million bucks, possibly more by now."

"Where is the fight club?" Batman growled.

"No clue," Ramirez told them, his eyes widening as Batwoman took a menacing step closer to him. He put his hands up in front of him in defense. "I swear on my life I really don't know. I just refer guys to Ray and he sets everything up. When they show up to fight, I get a cut of the dough."

Batman ground his teeth, his nostrils flaring with anger. "Where on Sixteenth Street is Ray?"

"Please!" Ramirez cried. "I can't tell you anymore or they'll kill me for sure. I've already said too much."

"We won't tell Ray how we found him," Batwoman promised him. "Now, where is he?"

"He's near the East End," Ramirez revealed with a reluctant sigh, his shoulders slumping in acceptance of his fate. "It's an old mom and pop store that went out years ago."

"We'll make sure to tell the police that you cooperated," Batman told him. "I'll make sure you have police protection."

"Yah, a lot of good that'll do me," Ramirez snapped. "You know how corrupt the police department is? They'll have me snuffed out before morning."

Batman thought for a moment before finally making a decision. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he told him. "Get out of here."

"Are you serious?" Ramirez exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock. "You're letting me go?"

"Yes," Batman stated, backing away. "Just keep your nose clean from here on out or I'll personally hunt you down and take you in myself."

"I promise…I promise," Ramirez stuttered, stunned by the turn of events.

Batman turned to leave, stepping over the two henchmen still out cold on the ground. Batwoman followed close behind, her mind whirling with questions, but she held her tongue until they were in the Batmobile and driving back into Gotham.

"Why did you let them go?" she finally asked.

"They really hadn't done anything illegal to hold them on," he confessed, staring straight ahead at the road. "Besides, I think we put enough fear into Ramirez that he'll go straight or, at the very least, leave town."

"And if he doesn't?"

"I'll make him wish he had," he simply stated.

Diana turned to look out the passenger door window, watching the Gotham scenery fly by them. She didn't have to ask where they were going. She knew that this mysterious Ray was going to be their next stop. Another question instead took precedence in her thoughts.

"After I took out the two men, you gave me a strange look. Why? What were you thinking?" she asked.

He turned to look out his driver's side window, his own mind a stormy mass of thoughts and emotions. He thought about it for a moment before finally replying. "How easily you seem to have slipped into the role of Batwoman," he confessed.

The corners of her lips curled with his unexpected compliment. "Thank you," she softy replied.

"It scares the hell out of me," he admitted, his voice holding an edge to it.

Diana looked sharply at him, confused by his admission. "Scared of what?"

Batman shook his head, his walls going up. "I'm not having this discussion right now," he snapped.

She stared at him a moment before turning to look out the window again, wondering what she had done wrong that would cause him to be so closed off towards her all of the sudden. He had said that she had done well in her role. Why was he so upset now?

She knew it went beyond what they'd discovered tonight. It had to do with her as Batwoman.

She reviewed every single thing that had happened so far tonight, replaying it all in her mind in hopes of discovering something that would help her understand. She thought that everything had gone relatively smoothly. They'd gained valuable information that could help them shut down this deadly fight club.

She couldn't think of anything that had gone wrong. She had followed his lead, allowing him to work and do what he did best without taking over. She felt as though they had worked very well together just like they always did as Batman and Wonder Woman.

Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, Diana felt a sense of frustration begin to replace the excitement that she had felt with working so well with him tonight. She knew she wasn't going to get any sort of answer out of him until he was good and ready and, judging by the tightly clenched jaw as well as the death-grip he had on the steering wheel, that answer wouldn't be coming any time soon.