"Bruce," Jessica said as they exited his private box at the Lincoln Center, "you really didn't have to invite me to tonight's performance."

A smile curved Bruce Wayne's lips as he escorted her through the throng of people to the stairs. "It was my pleasure, Jessica."

It wasn't a lie. He managed to enjoy the evening despite his initial reluctance to it. 'Or a reticence to having fun,' as Alfred accused on the ride into the city. Bruce dismissed that notion. As he had Dick's unnecessary quip about him not knowing how to have fun. He had a passing familiarity with the concept. His public lifestyle necessitated his having fun. Driving his fancy sports cars at inappropriate speeds, flying off to wherever when the mood struck him, squiring around a different woman every night, attending exclusive parties and events, buying restaurants because they refused to do something he wanted... it was all part of the playboy facade he maintained to conceal his nocturnal career.

It wasn't he was averse to spending an evening at the ballet with Jessica. Far from it, actually. He delighted in her company. Any other night and he'd have been thrilled to spend the evening with her. The Court of Owls and their involvement with the man trying to ruin her and her children prevented him from being able to fully relax and enjoy himself. He spent most of the performance searching every face for either Court members or their associates.

Facial recognition software picked out a few individuals he'd research once he returned back to his penthouse. Nicholas Endicott not attending the ballet surprised him, though. He, as well as Raya, suspected he'd attend the second half of the performance once word of Jessica arriving at the ballet with Bruce reached him. Endicott not doing as they anticipated either meant the Court called him to a private meeting or he was busy with another part of his plan.

Neither good.

"You typically attend the ballet with Raya." Jessica's fingers curled around his elbow as they descended down the stairs. "I don't remember you or her missing a performance once in the last sixteen years."

"We've missed a few." Those cancelled by the earthquake that ripped Gotham apart when she was sixteen being one example. His being lost in the Omega Sanction, another. "Not often, though, you're right."

"Does she still dance?"

"Yes." Bruce's lips curved. "Ballet is how Raya copes with her anxiety."

"Oh, I wish Malcolm had not given up ballet," she said wistfully. "Dancing was the only thing, outside of solving every homicide in New York, that made him happy."

"Malcolm still dances, Jess."

"He does?"

"Malcolm filled in as Raya's partner a few times during the 2017-2018 season." He smiled at an elderly couple standing to one side of the staircase. If they reminded him of his mother and father, he didn't dwell on it. Bruce learned not to acknowledge many things over the years. "I have the footage from their performances."

He recorded every performance, speech, and presentation. A fact only Alfred was privy too. Bruce didn't classify himself a sentimental man. However, he wasn't an uncaring one. His children, and grandchildren, were the greatest joys in his life. He had momentous and keepsakes like any parent. Treasures that reminded him of when his children were small and their problems easy ones to solve.

A frown feathered her brow. "I wasn't aware he even owned a pair of ballet shoes much less still danced."

"Raya nettles him until he gives in."

A trait Dick claimed she got from him.

"That's why it surprises me Raya did not want to attend tonight's performance. She lives for the ballet."

"There was no convincing her to attend tonight's performance after she found out about Malcolm's being arrested on suspicion of murder from his girlfriend."

He decided to not tell Jessica it was Raya's idea for him to invite her to attend the performance in her stead. He hadn't been able to fault her line of reasoning. She was the best choice to talk with Malcolm. She could explain the Court and Endicott's involvement. Where his father fit into things. Handle his questions, his anxiety, assuage his concerns.

"Sorcha isn't Malcolm's girlfr..." Jessica broke off with a sigh. "Yes, she is. She's been his girlfriend since the two were at Harvard. Though neither one seems able or willing to admit it."

"Dick and Raya were the same way about their relationship." Denying the truth, saying they were only friends; partners. Scoffing whenever any of them pointed out they were more than friends. "It was easier for them to not admit what everyone else was telling them."

Bruce partially blamed himself for Dick and Raya denying their feelings for as long as they did. They learned to compartmentalize from him. Some called it a defense mechanism. Bruce tended to view it as a means of keeping their private lives separate from their public ones.

"They're married now. They have an adorable son."

"Only because my youngest son, Damian, decided to do something about it." That something being to get himself licensed as a wedding officiant and marrying the two before John Richard Grayson the Third came into the world precisely at 11:59 PM on the anniversary of the death of Ellen Rae Berkeley. Five pounds and six ounces with arms waving frantically, legs kicking wildly, and red face scrunched up as he protested his rude eviction from the warm cocoon that sheltered him for eight months and fifteen days. "If he hadn't interceded, I believe Dick and Raya would still be like Malcolm and his girlfriend."

"Denying they're a couple?"

"Yes."

"They have a child, though."

"They have two children, actually." Bruce caught her quizzical look from the corner of his eye. "Dick formally adopted Raya's oldest son, Christopher, when he was a year old."

A move that had not shocked Bruce or anyone else for that matter. He had suspected Dick would chose to step up and become Kai's father, not only because he loved the boy, but because he felt a responsibility to seeing him raised in the manner his father would have wanted. A small surge of guilt and regret shivered along Bruce's spine. Had he only realized what the Joker was planning sooner...

"I wasn't aware Raya had more than one child."

"Christopher was born after her first husband was killed by the Joker."

Bruce heard his bitterness same as Jessica. He didn't apologize for it. There was no need. If anyone could understand his feelings, it was her. Her husband was almost in the same league as the Clown Prince of Crime.

"A shame we can't lock him in the same room with my ex-husband and see which one walks out the survivor." A small, tight smile curved her lips. "Perhaps the fates will finally smile on us and they'll end up killing each other."

Bruce doubted they'd be so lucky as they exited the building. Throngs of paparazzi lined the front entrance of the center, snapping shots for dozens of society columns, magazines, and various social media outlets. Flashes went off in rapid succession, practically blinding the people as they waited for drivers to pick them up. Bruce skirted the throng, knowing they waited to snap pictures of him and the woman he attended that evening's performance with. Jessica was considered hot news because of Malcolm being brought in on suspicion of murder.

It didn't matter that he hadn't been arrested and formally charged with anything. The sheer fact a former FBI profiler was the primary suspect was enough for the court of public opinion to convict him. Headlines all over labeled him a killer. Some editorials compared him to his father while television journalists like Anderson Cooper wondered if there were not more bodies out there.

Every word a falsehood that rankled deeply but which Bruce could not change. No more than he could the opinions of those journalists who labeled Batman a menace instead of a benefit. The only thing he could do for Malcolm was exactly what he had done: he sent Raya with the files that'd help prove his innocence.

He also instructed Dick and Tim to sweep Jessica's house for bugs and cameras before updating her security system to the latest software. He didn't trust either Nicholas Endicott or the Court. Monitoring the house was his only option since convincing Jessica to leave New York until they could stop both stood about as much chance of happening as him officially retiring as Batman.

Alfred waited with the car door open. "Thank you, Alfred," Bruce said as he waited for Jessica to slide inside the dark interior. "Has there been any trouble?"

"None, sir."

"Good."

Not that he expected any problems to arise while he attended the ballet with Jessica. He trusted his children. Acknowledged their capability to deal with whatever situations were tossed at them. Recognized their strength and abilities. Even if they didn't always feel like he did. Bruce was immensely proud of the children he raised. They grew into capable, compassionate, considerate adults despite the adversity they faced.

Alfred shut the car door behind him before walking around to the drivers side. They left the throng of paparazzi behind a few minutes later. Bruce settled comfortably back against the seat and stared out the window, searching for a figure distinguishable by his ebony body armor and gleaming blades. An uncharacteristic chill swept through him when he thought he saw a pair of round owl-like goggles peering down at him from a rooftop.

For a moment, he felt as if he was back in that underground labyrinth again, desperate, driven to the limits of his endurance, and afraid of what the consequences would be should he not manage to find his way out. He succeeded in escaping but the battle took an immense toll on him physically, as well as mentally. His phone buzzed and he reached into his pocket to retrieve it. His lips twitched as he scanned the short message his imp sent him.

"Raya says to assure you Malcolm is home, will be remaining at home for the duration of the evening, and has promised to stay at home until she comes tomorrow morning for breakfast."

Jessica huffed a frustrated laugh. "If my son had remained home as he was supposed to, he wouldn't have been at that office when the Devil was shot, and wouldn't have had to go down to the police station to be interrogated."

"Malcolm wants to clear his name."

"That's what the police and lawyers are for."

"They can only do so much against Nicholas Endicott."

Bruce didn't tell her about the Court. Jessica had been put through enough by her ex-husband. Now the first man she allowed herself to become romantically entangled with in years turned out the head of a criminal empire with an affiliation to a secret society that made the Cartel look like a street gang.

"That man." Fury tightened the skin around her eyes and mouth. "I'd shoot him if I knew I could get away with it."

Bruce didn't doubt that for one minute. "Killing Endicott won't solve anything." It'd only guarantee the Court sending one of their Talons after her in retaliation. Bruce wanted to avoid that at all costs. "It won't prove Malcolm's innocence or benefit him emotionally."

"This is all Martin's fault." Jessica's voice throbbed with anger and regret. "How I wish I never met that man."

"You wouldn't have either your son or daughter if you had not met Martin Whitly." Bruce rest a hand atop hers. "They're the good that came from your marriage, Jess. Never forget that."

A soft sound came from the man up front. Bruce didn't need to look in the rearview mirror to know Alfred's eyes were shining with repressed humor or his lips carried a faint hint of a smile. Alfred wasn't shy about expressing his opinions on him needing more in his life than Batman.

"I want that man removed from Malcolm's life once this is over, Bruce. Malcolm does not need his father in his life."

Bruce had a feeling that was one wish that'd come true.

Especially if his imp had any say about it.