"So how did it go?" Terry asked as he and Lark walked away from the school after Lark's final late rehearsal.

"Fine." Lark replied. "I guess spending all of my rehearsal time with Dana made me learn her lines." They walked out of the school grounds. "You know you don't have to stay with me now. I can walk home on my own."

"I'd rather stay." Terry replied. "I don't want to worry you, but you do realise that you would be an easy target for Dracula's Nemesis."

"I know. But really, I'm fine to walk two blocks home." Lark said.

"Actually I just got a call from Bruce. He asked if you would come back to the mansion with me, he wants to talk to you." Terry noticed that Lark looked unnerved by this. "Come on, what is the worst that could happen? And you can get your Phoenix suit back too."

They walked into the large entrance of Wayne Manor. "Bruce!" Terry called. "Where are you?"

"Here." Bruce materialised out of the shadows. "There's no need to shout McGinnis."

"Sorry." Terry said sheepishly. "I just didn't know where you were."

"Well, you can go downstairs and monitor the screens in the Batcave." Bruce said. Terry looked at Lark who nodded to him, silently saying that she would be fine. Terry disappeared through a concealed door leaving Bruce and Lark alone. "Come through into the living room." Bruce said.

Lark followed him into the large living room. The fire still burned, but not s brightly as before. Lark couldn't see how Bruce could stand to keep a fire burning in the height of summer.

"How are you?" Bruce asked.

"I'm fine." Lark replied.

"Good, when I heard about the accident yesterday I was.concerned." He finished. "McGinnis told me they treated you for shock."

"Yes, I was just a bit shaken up." Lark said. A silence fell between the two of them. Finally Lark broke the silence. "Is that all?"

"No." Bruce said quickly. "I wanted to talk to you about things. I'm sure it took a lot of guts for you to come here and tell me that you are my granddaughter. I just wanted to say that I appreciate that."

"But." Lark anticipated his sentence.

"But I have spent my life having people want to know me for my money. I can't be too careful you understand." Bruce said. "Especially with the other secrets I keep too."

"What are you saying?" Lark asked, a lump coming to her throat.

"I'm trying to say that, for the moment, I don't want a granddaughter." Bruce said simply.

"Oh." Lark managed to stop herself from sounding disappointed. "Well, I guess that's your choice. I knew that you probably wouldn't want to know me after all these years. I just hoped that I could at least talk to you and find out something about my family, or what is left of it." She said. "But I can easily research that myself now I have a lead." She got up. "If there isn't anything else then."

"Yes there is." Bruce replied. Lark stopped in the doorway. "It's about Phoenix."

"Oh yes, I left my suit here. Could I have it back?" She asked.

"No." Bruce replied. "Batman works alone, he doesn't need you help. Besides, I have learned in the past that involving other people just causes problems."

"Are you saying that you won't give me the suit?" Lark asked. Bruce nodded. "And you won't permit me to be Phoenix?" Bruce nodded again. "Fine." Lark said stiffly. "I know that you are a man who always gets what he wants. Although I don't see how you can tell me that you don't want anything to do with me and then order me about like I'm your inferior. But what the heck, I don't care anymore. Nothing really matters." She walked through the door. "Just so you know, Alicia never married anyone. She always said that she could never love anyone more than she loved you. Frankly I can't see what was so special about you." Lark walked quickly away from the manor, and didn't let the tears of disappointment slip down her face until she was well out of range of any security cameras.

Bruce sat alone in his chair and brooded. About twenty minutes later Terry came upstairs. "All is quite." He said. "No signs of anything out of order. Where's Lark?"

"She left." Bruce said.

"Why? I thought you two were going to talk." Terry said.

"We did." Bruce replied shortly. "We talked and she left."

"What did you say?" Terry asked suspiciously.

"None of your business McGinnis." Bruce relied.

"It is my business when she is my friend." Terry said angrily.

"More of a friend than your girlfriend?" Bruce asked cuttingly. "I have noticed that you haven't been to visit her. In fact you were more concerned about Lark's well being yesterday than Dana's. Where do you priorities lie?"

"You just went too far." Terry said. "For your information Lark and I went to visit Dana before school this morning. And perhaps it's telling that I spend more time with Lark than you do, and she's your granddaughter. I guess you never really learned to love locked up in this place alone, or did Batman take over?" He began to leave.

"Where are you going? You have work to do." Bruce said.

"I'm going out to do it. But from now on our relationship is purely business."

"As if it were ever more." Bruce said.

"One day Mr Wayne, you will wake up and realise that the only people n this world who like you are those who you pay." Terry said. "And even those people only stick around because you put food on their table. Goodnight."

Terry left, leaving Bruce alone. Almost instantly Terry regretted what he had said, he enjoyed being Batman and for some reason also liked Bruce's company. But sometimes Bruce just didn't know when to show that he actually did possess the ability to show emotions.