CH5: Merely Mortal

Alfred Pennyworth was sipping a nice hot tea in the lobby of Wayne Manor reading one of his favorite authors, Shakespeare. Seeing as it was the wee hours of the morning on Christmas day and Bruce still hadn't returned, he figured he would treat himself to Romeo and Juliet while he was "off during the holidays". The truth of the matter was that Bruce was often preoccupied with his caped crusader business even during this time of the year. So while other butlers and chefs of rich households would slave away getting the preparations and food ready, Pennyworth would just kick back and relax.

A sudden alarm through the mansion echoed through the halls scaring the living daylights out of Alfred prompting him to fling both his tea and book across the room.

"Good heavens! What on earth!" The butler looked at his smartwatch and saw a glowing red bat symbol flashing in intervals. "Oh no…" He booked it to the grandfather clock in the mansion and pulled on one of its weights inside where the pendulum resided. The antique unlocked a secret passageway which Alfred rushed down, eventually ending up in the Batcave. He prepared the medical bay and dawned his scrubs. Scalpels were laid out on a tray, IV's were wheeled next to the instruments, and the surgical table was sterilized. All that was left was for the patient to make it back in one piece. A couple minutes later the Batmobile docked into its port and the cockpit revealed the couple seated in the front.

Alfred was caught off guard when a muscular woman taller than him emerged with a puzzled look in her eyes carrying Batman bridal style. They both stared at each other before Alfred broke the silence.

"You must be Diana. Quick, bring master Bruce over here!"

Wonder Woman set him on the surgical table without question and Pennyworth went to work.

The top part of Bruce's costume had been removed and Alfred carefully wrapped his ribs with bandages. He made sure the bind was strong enough to keep them from moving, but not too tight so as to disrupt the healing process. He then removed the ice pack he had placed on his head and wrapped it thoroughly.

While Bruce was being tended to, Diana was on a medical stool watching in worry. Her eyes never parted his location as he was being wrapped in layers like a mummy. Alfred saw her concern and decided that idle chit chat was the best way to ease off her discomfort.

"You know this is not nearly the worst shape master Bruce has been in. That should be evident considering how much medical equipment I HAVEN'T use so far." He joked.

Wonder Woman knew he was trying to comfort her but the conversation starter was not too helpful. "He's had worse?" She deadpanned.

The humble butler chuckled nervously knowing he should have used a different approach to break the ice with her.

"I suppose that's to be expected… him being a mere mortal and all… this line of work is bound to cause some injuries." She continued.

Alfred raised an eyebrow at that remark. "Have you never sustained an injury from battle my lady?"

Diana pondered this for a bit and looked sheepish.

"Even the Greek gods had their struggles in the wars they fought. The Titans, the Giants, every adversity they faced tested their strength and resilience. However, this "mere mortal" as you put it always gets back up to fight again… even without immortality or divine powers."

Diana was taken aback by his compelling response. When she actually thought about it, he was right. Batman was the only one in the Justice League without any powers and yet he constantly goes on mission and fights by their side. When the White Martians invaded, Batman worked alongside Martian Manhunter and Diana to take out an outpost they had set up. During the battle however, Batman got separated from the two and was shot at with plasma rifles multiple times. Had it not been for J'ohn mentally shielding him, he would not have survived.

Additionally he also protects Gotham on his own. Against monsters like Bane and other super villains… all by himself with nothing but a Bat-suit and his wits.

Alfred finished and took off his gloves, scrubs, and medical mask.

"Will he be all right?" She asked.

"He has a concussion, a hairline fracture on his skull and two bruised ribs."

Diana's eyes were as big as saucers when Alfred went down the list of injuries Bruce had.

"He'll be perfectly fine. As I said, this is nothing compared to what he has gone through in the past."

Diana stood up from her seat and walked over to get a better look at Alfred's medical treatment. After washing his hands Alfred poured himself a hot cup of tea to replace the one he destroyed earlier, and one for Diana.

The two sat together as they waited for Bruce to come to.

"You know… when I talked to master Bruce yesterday about coming into the mansion with the love of his life in his arms, this isn't quite how I pictured it."

Diana spit out her tea and began to cough due to the awkward statement. "Hrg… WHAT?"

Pennyworth continued to sip his tea calmly. "I'm not sure how you youngsters do it now, but back in my day, the boyfriend would be the one to carry the girl into his home, not the other way around. But to each their own I suppose."

The Amazon princess was now beet red and was staring at the reflection in her tea. "We're not… I mean I don't think we are…"

"It's not every day Bruce trusts a colleague with the location of his home."

"He was wounded."

"Nevertheless, this is a sanctuary that very few get to see."

Wonder Woman looked around the Batcave noticing many signature mementos. The T-rex from Dinosaur Island, an oversized playing card from an encounter with Joker, the giant penny from battling Two-Face, it was like a museum. On the main monitor she could see the information still pulled up on the shipment of toys they both managed to track earlier, and off to the side were tubes housing multiple alternative bat costumes.

"I'm not sure what we are. Even after everything we've been through, the battles we fought together, the intimacy we have shared, it seems that it doesn't matter to him. He's always finding excuses to why it can't happen…"

"The path Bruce has chosen to follow makes it very difficult to possess a personal life… and personal relationships. But it's not impossible."

"Talia? Catwoman?"

Alfred merely shrugged. "Both damsels are good examples of how a good balance can be achieved between work and personal affairs. But when it came down to it, both ended up leaving."

"Why?"

"Who knows. Batman and Talia were practically married, and Seli… Catwoman would patrol the city with him night after night. Perhaps it was differences between their moral compasses. Maybe it was because the world saw more of Bruce Wayne than they ever did. But regardless, the biggest dealbreaker to anyone who has come to know him intimately is time. He can be gone for days, sometimes weeks during a stakeout and often puts off his responsibilities in the real world for the cowl."

Diana was getting to see a tiny glimpse of what Bruce's life was like as Batman and for a moment, she felt as if she walked into something to big too handle. Her daze was interrupted when Pennyworth topped off her tea.

"If you are serious about him, you can't let what he says get to you. Quite often the ones he wishes to protect the most, he pushes away the farthest." He smiled. "So at the very least, you do know he cares about you." Alfred began heading up the stairs into the main mansion. "If he needs me tell him I'll be preparing his painkillers for when he fully wakes up."

The butler disappeared and Diana was left alone with one banged up bat who was just now starting to regain consciousness. He groaned in pain and shifted in the surgical chair a bit before Wonder Woman stabilized him.

"Easy. You sustained several injuries."

"Tell me something I don't know…" Bruce responded as he put a hand on his head trying to manually stop the dizziness.

Diana was trying to think of a conversation starter but in this situation she didn't know what to say. Anything would be better than the icebreaker Pennyworth used earlier… right?

"How do you feel?" She asked innocently.

Batman was dumbfounded she would even ask a question like that in the state he was in. "I'm wrapped in bandages… and my head feels like it exploded… how do you think I feel?"

Diana smacked herself mentally. DUMB question. Still, Bruce didn't have to be so rude about it. "I think I liked it better when you were unconscious." She crossed her arms and looked away in annoyance.

"What happened to Bane and the thugs?"

"Oh the police picked them up as we were making our getaway."

The Billionaire Playboy got up from the surgical table and began to head for the stairs.

"Hold on." Diana demanded.

"What…" Bruce said without emotion.

"I was hoping we could pick up where we left off in our conversation in the Batmobile…"

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"Tonight proved how dangerous things could get were we to pursue anything. You were constantly taking away my focus from the fight and kept asking stupid questions. I can't take care of Gotham efficiently with distractions."

Diana's blood began to boil. "Don't forget, I'm the one who took Bane down when you couldn't."

"Don't remind me."

"Right, don't want to add insult to injury. Or… injuries." Diana smirked.

Batman turned around to face her and she was met with a very deadly glare.

"Sorry. That was in poor taste."

Bruce closed the gap between them so that he was inches away from her face. He looked into her blue eyes with his dark ones daring her to keep joking around. The tension in the room could be cut with a butter knife and the only thing your could hear was the water dripping from the stalactites and the bats flying overhead.

Bruce's glare lessened as he began to speak. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully."