Part XIII

As the canopy slid forward over him, Batman grimaced and leaned forward in his seat. He could feel the blood oozing through his torn sutures. Alfred's stitch work had been good. It had enabled him to come out tonight.
He wasn't able to patrol, but being out had allowed him to clear his head. At least until an overly protective kryptonian decided to try and intimidate him. He'd failed, but it hadn't stopped him from ripping a few stitches loose.
He started the car and eased it out of the alley back on to the street. He had only an hour to get back to the cave and get Alfred to patch him up.

"Damn boy scout."

As he weaved through his city, he began thinking about something Selena had once told him.

'Strings.'

'What?'

'I told you. For a man who is supposedly a loner you've got an awful lot of
strings.'

He'd never really thought that before and he hadn't realized then how right she was.

Selena. He'd loved her. He still loved her in a way. As much as he'd wanted to he just couldn't give her all his trust. That was what had eventually drove them apart. That seed of doubt. It took root in his mind.

Batman was now roaring down the back roads that led out of Gotham. At the speeds he traversed them it was a godsend that there was no one traveling them tonight other than himself. As he passed onto Wayne property he alerted Alfred to his condition and requested that he be ready upon his arrival.

"And after I have finished, will you be attending the league meeting this evening, Master Bruce?"

"I take it Clark told you it had been rescheduled?"

Bruce noticed the older man's lip twitch slightly.

"It was mentioned."

"I'm sure it was," Batman replied dryly.

"Do you think Miss Diana will be in attendance?"

Batman didn't bother responding and killed the transmission.

He knew that Diana had never left the Watchtower or he would have been notified, so odds were she would be at the meeting. Right now he didn't know if he could face her. He didn't know if he could hide all he felt for her behind the facade of the bat.

Smoke swirled around her as debris rained down from above. The smell acrid smell of circuits fusing and sparking filled the air. Diana knelt down to her knees panting; sweat dripping off of her body in rivulets. In less than three days she had driven herself to exhaustion twice. Three times if you counted the night before. Every time it had been for the same reason. Bruce. Pig-headed Bruce.
The training robots around her lay battered and beaten now. Most were only incapacitated, but one in particular was nearly ripped into several pieces. Diana would never admit it to anyone, but she had programmed that one to simulate Batman's appearance. She really didn't want to hurt him physically. Okay, maybe a small part of her did and it had felt good to purge those emotions.
She would never understand how he could control his emotions. When she felt something, she acted upon it. It almost wasn't a choice; it was just how the gods had made her.

Diana sighed as she willed herself to her feet, the tension that had plagued her all day now nearly gone. She felt tired, but better.

"Computer?"

She heard the room's computer acknowledge her with a inquisitive tone.

"Remove Batman and restart simulation."

Another tone accepted her command and a low whine sounded as the room struggled to reset itself from the chaos she had caused.

"One more time," she murmured to herself.