BRUCE POV

"Master Bruce, someone at the door for you," called Alfred from up the stairs.

"Now's not the time, Alfred," Bruce snarled from where he currently was stocking his utility belt.

A pause. Then: "It's Miss Kyle to see you, sir."

Bruce's hands barely slowed. "Tell her Bruce is out drinking."

"Sir!"

His tone made Bruce look up, finally, from his task. The butler stood at the top of the stairs, and his face was taugt in a tense expression. "She says it's very urgent she see you, sir. She did not sound like she was playing any games."

Bruce huffed and put down his utility belt. "All right."

Five minutes later, a barefoot Bruce with scruffy hair, a white tank top, and not a care in the world slinked into the hall, hands tucked in the pockets of his sweatpants. "Selina," he said in a light tone. "How nice to see you. Aren't you, ah, supposed to be-"

Selina cut him off brusquely. "In jail, I know." She crossed her arms over her chest. Alfred had let her inside the house; her hair was tucked into a newsboy cap and she wore a gray coat over what appeared to be her work clothes.

Bruce's eyes travelled over her outfit, noting the rips and scuff marks on her. He allowed the slightest warning to enter his tone as he leaned against the wall. "You've robbed three places in as many weeks. I could call the police right now."

Selina sighed, rolling her eyes at the high ceiling. "I could knock you out right now, but I didn't come here for that." Just try, thought Bruce. Selina continued. "Just listen, okay? This is important. Your girlfriend is in trouble."

Bruce pushed off the wall so fast he almost toppled over the umbrella stand next to him. His cool demeanor was gone suddenly, and he stood in front of Selina with his fists clenched. "What?" He swallowed. "...Diana? Wonder Woman?"

Selina eyed him. "You really like her, don't you? I'm impressed. But yes. I sort of ran into her in the city tonight. It's a long story." She waved her hand dismissively. "But we were attacked by someone. I don't know... some chick? I got knocked out, but when I woke up, I saw her leave with Wondypants over her shoulder." She paused, allowing him a moment to digest the news. "I didn't know who else to tell, and Batman isn't usually out at this time." She pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. "Bruce, are you okay?"

The concern in her voice made him look up from where he had been staring intensely at the floor, putting pieces together. "I..." He drew in a breath and said in an authoritative voice, "Some of your injuries look bad, Selina. Would you like me to have Alfred patch you up? I promise I won't call the police." His heart was thundering in his ears as he spoke, as he planned away.

"No," Selina waved away the suggestion. She was already turning back towards the door. "I'm just going to go now. I hope you find her. Unlike certain other heroes around here, she doesn't have a stick up her ass..."

"Yes," Bruce agreed absentmindedly. He felt like he was having this conversation from miles away.

As Selina opened the door and stepped outside, Bruce's hand snapped out and grabbed her elbow. She turned.

"Thank you, Selina," he said softly.

She offered him a smile in return. "Anything for a friend, Bruce." She gently tugged her arm away and disappeared into the evening.

As soon as the door closed, he snapped into action, running full speed back to the grandfather clock entrance to the Batcave.

"What is the plan now, sir?" called Alfred form where he was catching up behind him.

He barely slowed. "It was Talia, Alfred, it's the only explanation. Talia's got Diana. But I have to save the city."

"And what about Miss Prince?" the butler's voice was sharp behind him.

Bruce turned around suddenly, startling his butler who nearly ran into him; Bruce steadied him. "Then I have to save her too," he replied angrily. "Are you satisfied, Alfred?" He started to yank on his armor.

The butler huffed.

But Bruce certainly wasn't satisfied. What was it she'd said? He recalled it, whispered sweetly to him like in some cheesy movie about a life that wasn't his- I'll never make you choose, she'd reassured.

But here they were. They had arrived at the moment that Bruce had ignorantly hoped would never be. He was telling Alfred he could do both, but the time crunch was too great. The cold, analytic part of his mind was telling the unavoidable truth.

He had to choose.

Between his mission, his life, his promise to his parents, his entire reason for existing-

And this woman.

He had to choose.

"No, you don't," Alfred spoke from the darkness, and with a start Bruce realized he had spoken aloud.

"How, Alfred?" he asked, speaking to the wall he stood in front of in the Batcave. His voice sounded incredibly bleak.

"I don't know how," his butler quietly admitted. "But I do know this. You are not alone, and you never have been. There are times when we all need help. The bravest thing you can do is accept it."

Bruce stared at the wall a moment longer before turning around at Alfred's pause.

Alfred held the phone in his hand and a beseeching look was in his eyes. "Please, sir."

Bruce squeezed his eyes tightly shut at those words for a split second. And he made his decision.

DIANA POV

Diana came to slowly. She kept her eyes closed for as long as she could, trying to understand what had happened. From behind closed eyelids she could tell it was dark; she was held upright, tied to something sturdy... a pillar, perhaps? She listened hard... she couldn't hear talking, scuffling of shoes, anything... she appeared to be alone. She opened her eyes just a hair.

Talia Al Ghul stood a foot in front of her. Diana tried not to be startled, but Talia sensed she was awake.

"Hello, Amazon."

Diana opened her eyes fully. It was a dark, expansive space, but there wasn't much else she could tell about where she was being held. She glared at the other woman. Talia, still dressed in sleek black with her hair styled into a bun, looked quite put together.

But her darting eyes told a different story.

"You're alive," Diana said slowly. And if she was, then her father was not likely too far behind.

"Yes," Talia answered offhandedly, still doing nothing but staring. A smirk ticked her mouth up. "And stronger than you, I'm delighted to say."

"We'll see about that," Diana replied tersely, tugging at her restraints. When they had no give, she looked down to see she was tied up with her own lasso.

Diana sighed and looked back up. "What do you want, Talia?" she asked carefully. "Why did you attack me?"

Talia seemed only too willing to talk. "After the magic of the relic did its work on my father and I, my father only grew more obsessed with the idea of destroying Batman." She leaned in close, so Diana could see her dilated pupils, and feel her erratic breath on her neck. "And... it is starting to appeal to me."

Diana couldn't help the confusion growing on her face. This didn't sound like her, not at all. From the information she'd been given, Talia had never expressed any interested in that particular goal of her father's. Perhaps the magic of the relic that had supposedly resurrected her had some sort of negative effect on her mind. "Talia. I don't think you are well."

Talia continued on as if Diana hadn't spoken, beginning to pace now. "To destroy someone, you must first understand them. My father has already failed in this regard.

"He thinks Batman is like him. He thinks that above all, Batman holds dear his city and his legacy. But he is wrong." Her tone grew slightly reverent. "Batman loves people, first and foremost. This city and his legacy mean nothing to him without the people in his life. I have been privy to this, but my father did not want to listen to my advice. He's going to destroy the city, but it won't break Batman."

Diana's heart sped up. Destroy the city? Did Batman know this? "Did you do this to him?" she demanded, straining against her own lasso to no avail. "Did you poison him and leave him in distress on the streets of Gotham?"

Talia's smile widened. "Oh, no, that was father's idea. A good one, I'll admit. But I can outdo it."

Diana watched the other woman pace warily. "Is this some kind of competition to you?"

Talia threw back her beautiful head and laughed. "Perhaps. But it's all part of the same picture."

"What picture?" hissed Diana, thinking fast. How was she going to get out of this? "Talia, you're not making any sense! Please, stop and think about what you're doing."

"Batman once again destroyed the dream of our organization. My father is right; we have let him get away with it far too long. So I destroy him, in the way that my father could not comprehend." She paused, perhaps for dramatic effect.

"By destroying you."

BARBARA POV

Barbara Gordon was staring blankly at her ceiling while lying on her bed, a pastime that she had recently taken up after having her nightlife come to a sudden end. The TV ran in the background with updates on the supposed 'Batman Gone Wild' story, as Barbara liked to call it, that had her dying with curiosity, but she was far too stubborn to pick up the phone and call to see.

As if summoned, the phone rang.

She picked up the phone, privacy secured by Bruce himself, at her bedside. "Hello?" she muttered without any interest.

"Hello, Miss Gordon," said a brisk English voice. "Your assistance is, ah, required here."

Barbara sat up on her bed. Alfred calling? After all this time? Things must be desperate. "Really." She made her displeasure evident.

"Yes. There is a... situation, I'm afraid."

"Really." Alfred had her attention.

"Master Bruce needs your help."

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Did he say that?"

Alfred lost patience and his voice rose in volume with his next words. "It's not just Master Bruce that needs your help. Someone's life- Miss Prince's- is on the line, Miss Gordon, and he can't save her!"

Barbara frowned, disbelieving. Wonder Woman was in trouble? "So he doesn't want me around until suddenly he realizes he needs help, and now comes begging at my feet?"

The butler's voice was tired. "Not exactly." He cleared his throat. "He can't do it all, Miss Gordon. I asked him to seek your help, but he's far too stubborn, he just left. He says he can do it all on his own. But he can't. And if he fails to save this city because he's going to save her, he'll never forgive himself."

"Maybe he should suffer. He rejected my help before and disrespected my decisions," pondered Barbara. "Why should I do this for him now?"

There was a long, tired pause.

"It's not for him, Miss Gordon. It's for me, an old man who can't bare to live with his son destroyed. It's for Miss Prince, a woman that the world truly needs. It's for this city, the place you live in."

Barbara hesitantly looked out the window as Alfred spoke quietly now. "You are a hero, Miss Gordon, and you know what the right thing is to do. You don't need Master Bruce to tell you that. And you never have."

"What are you doing here?" Batman growled. He hadn't given the slightest indication that he knew she was there; not a twitch, a shift, nothing. It was typical behavior. "I told you to stay out of this."

Batgirl shifted from foot to foot, watching her ex-mentor looking for clues in a secluded alleyway by the Biscuits & Tea.

"I don't care what you have to say, Batman. I'm not one of your wards; you don't get to tell me what to do anymore." She put her hands on her hips, waiting for his undoubtedly pigheaded response.

There was a pause. Then: "Alfred put you up to this, didn't he."

Batgirl ignored the accusation. "Does it matter? Look. You have a job to do, and you're running out of time. That fear gas is going to be all over the city in an hour. Save Gotham, okay? Leave whatever's left" she nodded to the scene, "up to me."

"It's too dangerous," he snapped. "You don't know what you're up against."

"Then tell me," she said, irritated. "You're just wasting time now." She sighed. "You can trust me. I've got a little experience in saving kidnapped people," she offered a small, bitter smile.

Batman's mouth tightened, and for a moment Tim's haunted laughter echoed faintly in both their heads. And then, he said, "Talia Al Ghul captured her."

Batgirl let out a small sigh of relief that he'd relented quickly. Really it was more of a sign that the situation was extremely serious. She brushed away her questions and asked brusquely, "Okay, anything else you got for me?"

"Talia's strong," he said immediately, nodding to a large dent in the brick wall behind them. "Maybe as strong as Wonder Woman. I suspect heightened senses too. You have to be careful. Avoid confrontation." He paused. "Just... get her out of there." Most people would not be able to detect the small note of desperation in that monotone, but Batgirl picked up on it.

He fiddled with a small device in his gloved hands and resumed his robotic way of speaking. "I tracked Wonder Woman's League comm link. She's being held in a warehouse on the south side of town. Go in, get her out, and leave the mess to me. Got it?" She nodded and turned away, pulling out her grapple.

"Batgirl..."

She turned her head a fraction and raised an eyebrow, waiting.

His face was stone cold and so was his voice. "Be careful."

A/N: Wow 500+ reviews... I really don't deserve such incredible readers like you guys! Thank you so much! *blows kisses* I was going to leave y'all in suspense by adding Bab's part to the next chapter but I felt bad because I promised a longer chapter this time lol. So here ya go; leave a review! And happy new year's to you all!