No One's P.O.V

Martin let out a grunt as he struggled to pick up his unconscious masked friend.

"Damn you're heavy, Blake." Martin mumbled. He managed to get Blake in a standing position before crouching down and slipping an arm between the unconscious man's legs.

Martin took a couple of breaths before starting to lift up and grabbed hold of Blake's wrist. Martin then lifted up and carried Blake on his back with the fireman's carry position. He grabbed his gun from his holster with his free hand. He didn't want to take any chances of Joker coming back.

Martin stepped through the door frame after checking to make sure the coast was clear. He headed for the hall to the main lobby as fast as he could with Blake on his shoulders. He just needed to get to his car and radio for backup.

Martin came to a halt seeing two of Joker's men standing at the main entrance. They had automatic assault rifles strapped around them. Both guns pointed at Martin.

"Nobody's leaving this place unless they're in a body bag. Bosses orders." One of the men stated.

Before Martin could lift up his firearm, a figure dropped down behind the two men. The two men turned and aimed their weapons. Martin took cover behind a wall as he heard the weapons discharge. He stood still as he heard the sounds of fighting. Who would be fighting two men armed with assault rifles? Batman followed after Joker so it couldn't have been him.

Martin held his breath as the sound of the fighting ceased. It became eerily quiet now. Martin could hear his heart beat in his ears. He readied his finger by the trigger of his gun. He had no idea who this was.

The sound of footsteps was getting closer to his location. Martin closed his eyes in a silent prayer before turning around the corner. He pointed his gun at the figure. His jaw went slack and he almost dropped his gun seeing the person in front of him. He recognized the familiar black and purple suit with a yellow lightning bolt going across the chest piece and the white lenses glowed in the dark.

"Voltess…you're alive." Martin whispered in disbelief.

Melody's P.O.V

I stood in front of Martin who currently had Blake in his Robin suit around his shoulders. What happened to him?

"Voltess…you're alive." Martin whispered.

"It'll take more than an explosion to kill me. What happened to Robin?" I asked. Martin put away his gun and I walked over to the two men.

"Joker stabbed him and it was my fault. I distracted him. He's fine now thanks to Batman. I followed him here. I know he's Blake and I know Bruce Wayne is Batman." I was floored at this news. I turned to face Martin and he had a stern gaze.

"That just leaves the last question of who you are, Voltess." I let out a sigh. I took a step back and let my mask retreat down to my chin. Martin frowned and tilted his head at me.

"You're Wayne's girl. Melody Moser." I gave a slight smile.

"You can call me Mel but when the suits on it's Voltess to you. Alright?" Martin nodded.

"Right, of course. What exactly happened back there with the bombs?" He asked.

"Joker wasn't going to stop hurting people until he knew I was dead." I explained.

Martin had a look of realization hit him, "You used the explosion as a smokescreen. You faked your death. Did Batman know about this?" I shook my head.

"No, he doesn't. Batman needed to believe I was dead in order for Joker to believe it. Joker's doing all of this to get after Batman. I was never his target, I was just a pawn in a bigger plan. Where is Joker now?" I asked.

"He ran off after I shot at him. I got him at least once, Voltess. The clown's wounded and Batman is following right behind him." Martin advised.

I nodded, "I'll go after them but first things first. I need my board back." Martin chuckled and nodded.

"It's in my car. I need to radio in Gordon and back up. We're getting this clown back where he belongs. He won't be able to escape next time so easily." I followed Martin as he headed to the exit of the building.

No One's P.O.V

Joker burst through the roof door while clutching his bleeding arm. The detective actually got a shot off on him. He slowed down as he neared the edge of the roof. The crazed man smirked and let out a laugh. Would this finally be it? Would this finally be the day he got Batman to break his rule? After all, he had killed off his little girlfriend and the sidekick should have bled out by now. Batman was alone once again.

Joker turned around as he heard the sound of the roof door opening. Joker let out a laugh as he saw the pure rage in Batman's eyes. Come on! Do it already!

"Well here we are again, Batman. Does this bring back memories? It does for me. Right down to the explosions. It's funny how the women you're attached to have a tendency to blow up!" Joker let out a laugh and Batman saw red.

The vigilante charged and punched the clown. Joker stumbled back while holding his gut. Batman kept his distance but his glare was piercing.

"You're going to pay." Batman growled out. Joker grinned. That's what he wanted to hear.

"I was hoping you'd say that. How does it feel to be alone again? Your little sidekick is probably dead by now and your girlfriend is nothing but dust now. I'll have to thank Cyclone for giving me the little tidbit of your relationship with her. I was hurt that you didn't tell little old me about your new found relationship." Batman's jaw clenched. Of course it was Cyclone.

"I'm not alone, Robin's alive. You've failed to kill him." Joker frown hearing those words.

"Huh…well a 1:2 ratio isn't bad."

"Try a 0:2 ratio." Joker snapped his head to the side hearing a voice that belong to somebody who was supposed to be dead.

Joker suddenly got knocked back by a silver board smacking into his chest. The board bounced back only to get kicked back and hit Joker once again. Joker's legs hit the edge of the roof and about to fall over when a black and purple armored hand gripped him by his jacket. Joker was staring into the glowing white lenses of Voltess.

Melody's P.O.V

I held a piercing glare to Joker from underneath my mask. His arms were splayed out as I held him by his purple suit jacket.

"You're supposed to be dead." Joker said with frustration clearly in his voice.

"About that. I've been blown up twice before and it looks like the third time wasn't the charm. I played your game, Joker. You lost." Police cars and SWAT vehicles pulled up below. Martin's back-up had finally arrived.

Joker smirked and began to laugh, "I didn't give you enough credit, Voltess. Faking your death in order to lure me out. Well played, Voltess. Well played." The roof door opened and I heard several shuffling running footsteps.

I pulled Joker back as two SWAT members took the clown from me and placed him in handcuffs. They led Joker away and towards the exit. I turned around to see Batman staring at me intensely. His eyes held so many questions that he couldn't ask while the officers were here.

"Voltess." I turned to Gordon, "Glad to see you're still among the living." I smiled behind my mask.

"I don't die that easily, Gordon. Give me some credit." Gordon grinned and nodded.

"We'll take Joker from here. He's going straight back to his cell in Arkham Asylum." He turned to his men, "Alright, everyone clear out! We got the clown!" He announced to his men.

The police and SWAT members filed through the door in a single line. Gordon gave a look to Batman and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Take it easy on her." My sensitive ears picked up Gordon whispering to Batman. Gordon followed his men to the exit and closed the roof door behind him.

I let my mask drop once the coast was clear, "I'm sorry but I couldn't tell you my plan. I needed Joker to believe I was really gone and if you believed then he would." Silence from the masked man in front of me. I felt a tightening in my chest as the guilt began to set in.

"Say something! Yell at me, scold me, anything!" Batman took strides towards me still in silence and his face unreadable.

"Are you just going to give me the silent treatment? I know you're angry at me so ju-" Batman pulled me into a kiss. His arms wrapped around me and I could feel him hold on tight as if I'd disappear in his arms.

I rested my hands on his biceps and kissed him back. He slowly broke the kiss before backing his head away. One gloved hand caressed my face before staying on my cheek.

"I'm not angry, I'm just relieved that you're alive. I thought it happened again. That I was too late." I could hear the pain in his voice even with the synthesizer on.

"I'm sorry to put you through that again." I said gently.

"Just promise me you won't do something like this again." I placed both hands on either side of his cowl and nodded.

"I promise." His gloved hands reached up and removed my hands.

"Good. Now let's get home. My side is killing me." He let out a grunt as his right hand gingerly touched his right side. I chuckled and let my mask form back over my head.

"I say we both take the day off from hero work today." I went to Batman's left side and put his arm over my shoulder. I felt him lean against me.

"That sounds like a plan to me." He grunted in agreement.

One Week Later

I walked into mine and Bruce's bedroom to see him standing in front of the full length mirror. He had his shirt lifted up and was examining where the wound use to be. You could barely see the outline of the thin scar.

"That healed up nicely." Bruce looked over his shoulder and smiled seeing me.

"It would have been worse if it wasn't for that spray. The new suit saved my life and Blake's with that first aid coming in handy." Bruce dropped his shirt down and walked over to me.

"You haven't even started using that suit to its full advantage yet. Have you even tried the sonar radar yet?" Bruce tilted his head at me.

"There's a sonar radar in the suit?" I frowned at him.

"Yes, you have devices you throw out around a room then use the sonar radar in your cowl piece to see the enemies in it. Did you not pay attention to what Fox was showing you when you first got it?" Bruce grimaced.

"I might not have read the full instructions." I gave him a deadpanned look.

"You're-"

"Insufferable, I know." Bruce finished my sentence. He stopped right in front of me.

"I'm starting to believe those words are just another way of saying 'I love you' with how often you use it." Bruce said with a grin. He ran his hand through my hair and twirled some of the locks between his thumb and index finger.

"No, I'm pretty sure it means what it's supposed to." I corrected him. Bruce chuckled and gently pulled me towards him. I ran my hands up his chest and around his neck. He leaned his head down and I met him halfway for our lips to touch. I felt him pull me closer to him before he broke off the kiss.

"So, do you want to actually fully test the suit then tonight?" I asked as I slightly back my head away.

"Actually, I'll take a raincheck on that." I frowned and tilted my head slightly.

"Really? What's going on that you're refusing to put the suit on tonight?" Normally it's the other way around. Bruce would look for an excuse to skip functions as Bruce Wayne in order to go out as Batman. Never the other way around.

"I was hoping we could have dinner together tonight. Just us two." I raised an eyebrow.

"You know we don't have a great track record with dinners right?" Bruce nodded.

"I'm aware but we didn't have Blake back then. I already told him my plans for this evening. He's more than capable of keeping an eye on things tonight." Bruce moved his hands and rested them just above my hips.

"Okay, then where are we going for dinner?" I asked.

"Here." I raised my brows at that. We hadn't had dinner here since our first one.

"What's Alfred making then?" Bruce shook his head.

"I gave Alfred the night off. I planned on making dinner." I couldn't keep a straight face nor hold back the laugh. Bruce gave me a blank stare.

"I'm sorry…you make dinner? I have never seen you once in that kitchen cook anything in the two months we've been together." Bruce rolled his eyes at me.

"You do realize I had to feed myself when I was traveling those seven years I trained as Batman right?" He replied back with a snarky tone.

"Hmm, that was eating to survive. I see that differently from cooking a meal in a kitchen. How about this? We make dinner together. How does that sound?" I offered.

Bruce's smile was back, "That sounds like a better idea." I smiled cheekily.

"I have good ideas from time to time." I joked and pulled back from Bruce, "Let's start making something now. I haven't eaten all day."

"Yes ma'am." Bruce said playfully and followed me to the kitchen.

"You've never had a chicken and veggie stir fry meal for dinner?" I asked. I focused on my task of cutting up the carrots at the moment.

"Can't say I have, no." Bruce's voice came from behind me. He had his own cutting board with the raw chicken he was currently cutting up.

"Well you've been missing out. This was the easiest and quickest meal for me to make growing up. It also happened to be my dad's favorite." I used the side of the knife to push away the cut up carrot. I reached over and grabbed a red bell pepper.

"I wish I could have met him." I stopped the knife as it cut through the top of the pepper. I looked over my shoulder to see Bruce had turned slightly to look at me.

"My dad?" Bruce nodded.

"He raised you as a single father and that must have been tough on him. But he must have never let that show to you from the way you talk about him. He did a hell of a job raising you, Mel. I would have liked to talk to the man." I smiled fondly at him. I let out a small chuckle as a thought came to me.

"What's so funny?" Bruce asked warily.

"It's just huh…I don't know if my dad would have taken a liking to you if he was still alive." Bruce immediately frowned. He set the knife down and fully turned me.

"Why's that?" I grimaced and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well for one, the whole billionaire playboy act wouldn't have flown by him. He would take one look at you and then he would tell me "Melody, that young man there screams nothing but trouble. You stay away from him, you hear me, missy?"." I deepened my voice as I quoted my father. Bruce immediately grinned and chuckled.

"That's how your father sounded?" I laughed.

"Hey, that's how he sounded to me as a teenager. He was born and raised in Oklahoma. My dad was always protective of me especially when I hit dating age. Anytime I had a date picking me up from the house it would spontaneously be the night he needed to clean his guns." Bruce gave an amused grin.

"He was one of those." I nodded my head.

"There's a saying he use to tell me all the time. You can take an Okie away from Oklahoma but you'll never take the Oklahoma out of an Okie. He liked his guns is basically what I'm saying. Ironic that he got a daughter that hates them." I resumed chopping up the bell pepper on the cutting board.

"Yet you know how to fire one?" I heard Bruce asked with confusion in his tone.

I bit my lip and nodded slowly, "Guns terrified me as a kid. They were loud and I could feel that sound vibrate through me. The first time he took me to a gun range I was maybe six or seven. After hearing all the gunshots at the range I was freaking out and crying. He had to carry me out of the range. We did our own private sessions after that. I eventually got over my fear. My dad had a thing about people knowing how to properly handle and respect a firearm. He knew exactly how lethal a firearm could be in the hands of the undisciplined and untrained." I finished chopping up the bell pepper and moved it with the other vegetables.

"Ironic isn't it…that the very thing my dad hated is what got him killed in the end." I set the knife down on the end of the cutting board. All of the veggies I had grabbed were now cut up.

Bruce stayed silent and I kept my back turned to him, "After I got these powers I thought back to that night. Police never found the man that killed my father. So I started looking for him after joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and I got close to finding him. Then the Avengers Initiative happened and I had to give up looking for him. Then eventually S.H.I.E.L.D. got disbanded and I lost my resources to pick it back up. I don't even know if he's still alive or not. Police gave up saying that the man was a druggie and that he probably OD somewhere. The case would just be a waste of police time and taxpayer money. That's what the Chief of Police in New York told me the day I confronted them about it." I clenched my hands into fists as I leaned against the counter. That memory made my blood boil.

"I almost killed the man that killed my parents." My anger was now forgotten as I turned around to face Bruce.

"What?" I asked in disbelief. His eyes glanced at the floor as he leaned against the counter.

"His name was Joe Chill. He was found and arrested the same night. He stayed behind bars for fourteen years. He eventually made a deal to get parole in exchange for testifying against a mob boss named Falcone. The day of his parole hearing I went with Rachel and I took a gun with me. I was planning on shooting him the same way he did to my parents when he would leave the courtroom. Falcone however had an assassin disguised as a reporter that shot and killed him instead." Bruce recalled and his eyes glanced back up at me.

"Did that take away your closure?" I genuinely wanted to know. Bruce nodded.

"It did. I eventually got it from my training with the League. I'm sorry that you never got yours." Bruce said gently.

I shrugged, "I've kind of just accepted the fact that I may never know. Especially now seeing as I'll probably never see my world again." I stated.

I took a deep breath in, "Let's change topics here. I didn't mean to bring down the mood. Let's just finish making dinner." I put on the best smile I could.

Bruce frowned, "Mel, you don't have to put on a fake smile around me. I see right through it anyway. Don't force yourself if you don't feel like it." I nodded and began to get the ingredients together to make the sauce.

"That chicken isn't going to cut up itself." I reminded him. Bruce gave a small smile before turning back to the cutting board.

"Okay, give me the spoon before you burn something." I chuckled and took the slotted spoon from Bruce.

"I wasn't going to burn it." He defended himself. He stepped aside from the stove top.

"It sure smelled like it. Could you grab the sparkling cider?" I asked as I stirred the chicken, veggies, and sauce together.

"I was actually going to ask what wine you want with this." I was taken aback by that.

"You want wine with this? You realize that's alcohol." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"I'm aware, Mel. Tonight's a special occasion and that calls for a drink." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Dinner between us is a special occasion?" Bruce gave me a smirk that screamed he knew something that I didn't.

"Tonight is. White or red?" He said cryptically.

"White. Chardonnay specifically."

Bruce gave me a kiss on the cheek as he walked past me, "I'll go get it. I'm sure Alfred has plenty of Chardonnay's to pick from." I watched his retreating back as he headed for the wine cellar. Something's up and I have no idea what it is.

I turned off the stove seeing the food was ready. I walked over to the cupboard and grabbed two plates. I then pulled out the drawer and grabbed two forks. I took the plates and forks and set them out on the dining table that already had a tablecloth covering it. I walked back to the stove to grab the pan.

I heard Bruce's footsteps reproaching. I looked over to see him placing two wine glasses on the table and held the Chardonnay in hand. I put the kitchen rag over the stainless steel handle before picking it up.

"It smells great." Bruce complimented as I carried the pan over.

"It's been a while since I've actually made this. Hopefully it tastes the same as I remember." I commented and dished a portion onto one of the plates.

"When was the last time you made it?" Bruce asked. I flinched slightly as he popped off the cork to the Chardonnay and quickly poured the drink into one of the wine glasses.

"Let's see it was when I still had an apartment in New York and hadn't moved into Avengers HQ yet. So about…three years ago? I made it for Tony when he insisted on seeing my place." I dished a portion into the last plate.

"How much did he insist?" Bruce asked with an amused sparkly in his eyes. He filled the second wine glass.

I gave a look to Bruce, "Tony Stark has a habit of not taking no for an answer. He practically drove me up the damn wall until I said yes." Bruce chuckled as I walked the pan back to the stovetop.

"You always talk about Tony. What about the rest of the Avengers? I don't hear much about them." Bruce asked.

"I'm the closest to Tony that's mainly why. There's a lot to say about the others so I'll try to keep it short." I set down the pan and headed back to the table.

I raised a brow as Bruce pulled out a chair for me. He gestured with his hand for me to sit down. I gave him an amused look. Why not? I'll entertain the gesture. I sat down and he pushed in the chair before walking around the table.

"I guess I'll start with Natasha or Nat as we call her. She's a former Russian trained assassin/spy that's known as a Black Widow. She's one of the ones that trained me and the one that I could never pin down. Clint is the other former assassin and he basically holds the title for the world's best archer. The man could shoot off the wings of a fly if he wanted to with a bow and arrow." I started off as Bruce took his seat.

"Did he teach you that trick?" Bruce joked with a grin.

"I know how to use a bow and arrow if needed but I'm nowhere near as good as him. Next would be Thor. He's not from earth but from a place called Asgard. Him and his people are essentially gods compared to humans. You already know Thor is the reason why I'm like this. Then there's Dr. Bruce Banner or Hulk whichever way you see it." Bruce frowned.

"What do you mean by or?" I grabbed the napkin by my plate and laid in on my lap.

"You know Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde?" Bruce nodded, "That's essentially him but Dr. Banner and The Hulk. Banner is incredibly smart and researched gamma rays and tried to use them to replicate the super soldier serum used on Captain America. It failed and turned Banner into this huge, angry, green guy we call Hulk. The Hulk is super strong, resistant to nukes, bullets, and pretty much anything else that would kill a human is a minor nuisance to him. He could level a city in a matter of minutes if he went on a rampage." Bruce grew a look of concern and paused as he grabbed his napkin.

"This guy is a hero?" I nodded.

"We got pretty good at containing Hulk and Nat was a big help thanks to Banner's feelings for her. She could calm down Hulk if we needed him to turn back. But we always had a backup plan for Hulk in case he went out of control. Tony made the Hulk Buster Iron Man suit to take on Hulk if needed. So far it was only used once for its designed purpose." I stabbed some of the stir fry with my fork.

"Then there's Steve or Cap as we call him. He's the leader of the Avengers. Cap's pretty old fashion considering he fought during World War II before crashing into the arctic and being frozen in ice until S.H.I.E.L.D. found him in 2011. There's other members that joined up later on but the people I listed are the original members. They're also the ones I spent months working side by side while traveling through Europe and Asia. Those were some of the best months I've had in my life despite the life-threatening circumstances at times." I said honestly. I took the bite I had on my fork.

"Really? It even beats the months you've been here?" Bruce teased and began to pick the food up with his fork.

I chuckled, "I love you, Bruce and I'm enjoying my time here but there were a lot of good memories from that time. There were times that I forgot we were tracking down bad guys and it felt like just a bunch of friends having a good time while traveling. It's kind of like when you look back at your college days." Bruce chuckled.

"I wouldn't know about that since I dropped out of Princeton after only a year. I left Gotham City shortly after that." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"How old were you?"

"Nineteen." A look of shock went over my face as I leaned back.

"Nineteen and left to travel the world yet I was in my junior year of college at nineteen as a classic broke college student." I muttered to myself.

Bruce chuckled and finally took a bite of the stir fry. He looked at me with a pleasantly surprised expression before swallowing his food.

"You might be making this more often in the future." Bruce pointed out. I gave a small smile.

"I think I can do that. Alfred won't like it but he'll have to get over it. I'm glad you like it." I reached for my wine glass. I noticed Bruce shift in his chair and for a second I saw a brief nervousness come from him. That was weird.

I took a sip of the Chardonnay before setting it back down, "Mel." I looked at him with interest.

"You know I love you, right?" I frowned hearing his words.

"Yes and I love you too." I furrowed my brows in confusion, "Everything alright, Bruce?" Bruce nodded. He held his right hand out on the table while his left stayed under the table. He had his palm out and I took that as a sign he wanted mine. I placed my left hand on top of his and his fingers wrapped around mine.

"I know I can say for certain that these two past months with you have been the best I've had in years. I never thought that I could feel this way for anybody. I told myself I couldn't let myself have these feelings to somebody because I'd put them in direct danger as Batman. Then you came into the picture, Mel. I'll never forget the first time I saw you. You took on three men and beat them with ease. I knew at that moment that you were different and I wanted to know more. I wanted to meet you and I did." I was completely enamored by him at the speech he was giving. My silence urged him to continue.

"Then I met Voltess as Batman. I felt threatened at first but then we had that talk we had that night on the roof. I realized that Voltess was like me and when I discovered that you were Voltess it all made sense. Mel, you are the only person that truly understands both parts of my life. I don't think I'd be able to find anybody else like you and I don't want to. I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Mel." My eyes widened and I pulled back my hand to cover my mouth. Bruce slid off his chair to the side and knelt down on one knee. He opened his left hand to reveal a small black velvet box. He opened the box to show a white gold banded ring with three diamonds in the middle.

"Melody Moser, will you marry me?"