"Questioning"

By: The Angelic Temptress

Disclaimer: DC Comics, Bruce Timm, Warner Bros. and others own all the characters, save one. No infringement is intended. The story idea is mine, and the characters are only being borrowed for practice. I'm not making any money.

Rating: PG-13 for language

Spoilers: "Starcrosssed" and parts of "The Return"

XX

Epilogue:

Bruce Wayne, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, shut the door of his car and started for the cabin he had purchased several months ago. The air smelled fresh and clean, but it always did in the mountains.

The small cabin looked as if it needed a few repairs, and he wondered if he should send Dick and Tim on a "brotherly" mission together. He figured they'd have a good time, and she would have people to talk to, people besides Alfred and himself.

He gently knocked on the front door but walked inside without invitation. After all, it was his cabin. She was his guest.

The place resembled a pigsty, but he ignored his irritation and walked to where the breeze in the cabin was coming from.

The porch door was wide open, and she was lying in the hammock, her eyes closed and her feet bare. Wearing a pair of tan pants and a white tee, she seemed rather comfortable. The "traitor" that everyone was searching for was hiding just a few miles outside of Gotham.

He cleared his throat to get her attention.

The winged redhead quickly sat up but relaxed when she realized who came to pay a visit. "What's wrong?"

Bruce shook his head. "Nothing, Shayera. I just came up to check on you." He took a seat in one of the five deck chairs and made sure to keep eye contact.

"Alfred was just here yesterday. Why do I need to be checked on twice in two days?"

"They got close this time."

Shayera's green eyes widened as her jaw dropped. "How close?"

"Too close. The bounty hunter could conceal her wings with the use of some sort of device she wore."

Shayera slightly shook her head. "That's new news to me. Technology must've advanced within the past five years." After sighing, she ran a hand through her auburn locks and stood from her hammock. "Is everyone all right?"

Bruce nodded. "She said that the murders would have been an act of vengeance."

Slowly, the Thanagarian turned to face him. "Murders? Plural?"

"She was after John as well."

Suddenly, her emerald orbs of sight narrowed with anger and disgust. "It has Talak's name written all over it."

"I can't stay long. I'm actually on my way to Metropolis." The billionaire who led a double life stood from his seat. "Just, keep an eye out."

"You too."

With that, he left her to once again reflect on all that had come to pass. He knew what it was like to feel as if you were the only one who could've changed things. After all, he still visited the alley his parents were murdered in.

Bruce slipped back into his car, started the engine, and didn't say a word to the other two men in the car. They both knew what he was thinking, and one wasn't even telepathic.

"We need to move her," Clark shared bluntly, his eyes staring out a tinted window.

"I concur," J'onn J'onzz, the Martian disguised in human features, stated and adjusted his tie.

"But where?" Kent asked his friends. "Somehow, I think Talak will find a way to track her down."

"Perhaps, but he doesn't know the way I think," Bruce turned in his seat to face the reporter. "Let's do something a little unorthodox. I think we should contact Doctor Fate."

J'onn nodded in agreement. "Yes. He does not stay in our reality; he resides in an entirely different dimension."

A smirk appeared on Clark Kent's face, and he took off his glasses to clean them. "Sounds good to me. Let's set up a meeting with him tomorrow."

"Should we inform the others?"

Batman shook his head. "No. Those three would only blow it all out of proportion, for very obvious and dissimilar reasons. Technically, we've lied and have withheld information."

"And I don't know about you two," Clark said, "but I don't want to suffer the wrath of either Diana or John." He replaced his glasses. "We just need to be discreet, and it'll all work out. Hopefully."

X ENDX