Chapter 11: Nighttime Talks
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" A scream echoed throughout Wayne Manor and woke Bruce up. He slowly got out of his bed and headed for the most likely source of the scream, Cassandra's room. He raced down the hall slightly panicked. Had something attacked her? Had David found her? He quickly opened her door and found the only person other than himself in the room was Cassie.
'She must have had a nightmare,' Bruce thought. Bruce walked toward her bedside as Cassie continued to toss and turn in her bed.
"Cassie, Cassie," Bruce said gently as he shook her. "Wake-up. Cassie!" Cassie bolted up out of her bed gasping. She looked up at Bruce and sighed in relief.
"It was just a dream," Cassie said.
"Want to talk about it?" Bruce asked.
"Not...entirely," Cassie admitted. Bruce sat next to her bed quietly not knowing what to do. "Um...would you mind if...if I slept with you tonight?" Bruce hesitated; he never had to that with the boys. Talking had always worked.
"Of course I don't mind," Bruce answered. "I mean, yes, you may." Cassie got out of her bed and followed Bruce to his room. Bruce pulled off the blanket and Cassie climbed on and snuggled in. Bruce then sat on his bed and pulled the blanket over them. He closed his eyes and then opened them when he felt something cuddle into his side. He turned his head to see Cassie snuggling into him. He hesitated for a minute before wrapping his arm protectively around her.
"I love you Daddy," Cassie whispered. This shocked him even more; he had NOT expected THAT. Somehow, though, he didn't mind.
"I love you too," Bruce responded before he fell into a dreamless sleep.
Wonder Woman was in her room getting ready for bed.
"Okay, so what do I so far?" she questioned. "I've managed to narrow down the suspects from the guest list but there's still a lot to go over. Paul Greenwood still fits the bill and so do a bunch of others but yet majority misses one or two things. So I need to follow the money and technical aspects. Because without those two things he would not have been able to pass as a non-powered hero for so long. And he helped pay for the Watchtower from what I've heard and he always was one of our go-to tech people so...Hummm. But then there's also motive. Who has motive?" She paused when she realized something. "Better yet, what was his motive for working here period? Was he just trying to gain our trust so he could strike at the right moment? But that doesn't make any sense. He always acted like he hated working in a group and he wasn't make it easy to get along with him. And if he wanted to attack us why hasn't he done it sooner? He's been working with us for a little over five years. Why didn't he take the opportunity earlier? Why was he here?" At this she paused and remembered something from their early days on the League.
"Well you're here early," Wonder Woman said to Batman. They were in the monitor room in the Hall of Justice and Batman's shift followed her own.
"Actually I'm right on time," Batman responded pointing to the clock. And sure enough, he was exactly on time.
"Oh, well, I guess I'll leave this to you then," Wonder Woman replied. She got out of the chair and started to walk away before pausing. "I've been meaning to ask you something." She turned around so she could see his face. "Why are you a hero? Why do you this? You have no powers. You could live a normal life if you wanted to. And yet you're here. So why?" Silence proceeded for a good minute or two before Batman responded.
"Because I had to," Batman started. "Because no one else was willing to step up."
"You have no faith in your city?" Wonder Woman questioned.
"No, and for good reason," Batman said. "As a child I watched as the city fell into chaos because no one was willing to stand up to the crime lords."
"Why wouldn't they?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Because as long as they kept the bad people rich and the good people scared no one would touch them," Batman answered. "Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, thanks," Wonder Woman said.
"But was he being honest about it?" Wonder Woman wondered (no pun intended). "There's no way to know until we catch him." She then snuggled into her bed and turned her lamp off. "Maybe I should go see Mr. Wayne tomorrow after my monitor duty." She yawned. "Before I forget about the invite." She then fell into a deep, calm, dreamless sleep.
Bruce woke up when the first light of day hit his face. Normally it was odd for him to wake up at this hour, but since he was starting to get back into a normal sleep routine, it was slowly becoming a pattern. He rose out of bed and looked over to the little girl laying next to him and smiled. She was so precious. She started stirring next to him and opened her eyes.
"Good morning," Bruce said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Cassie responded. "Thank you." She hugged him.
"Of course," Bruce said. He hugged her back. Dick opened the door to see the two of them hugging.
"Ahhhh! Aren't you two the cutest?" Dick teased. Bruce looked up and glared at him while Dick was fiddling around looking for his phone. "Where's my phone when I need it?"
"Dick," Bruce started. "Why are you actual here? I doubt you're here just to mock me." Dick stopped looking for his phone.
"Oh! Right!" Dick exclaimed. "Me and the others need to talk to you privately." Cassie slowly let go of him once Dick had finished speaking.
"I'll be right back," Bruce promised before getting out of his bed and following Dick into another room.
"What is it?" Bruce asked.
"First of all, the League's been calling us non stop," Dick started. "We haven't told them anything but they're not going to give up until they get an answer."
"Yeah, and next thing you know they'll be interrogating us with Wonder Woman's lasso," Barbara said. "Right now all we're telling them is that we have no clue where you are or who are you underneath the mask."
"How much long do you think it'll fool them?" Bruce asked.
"There's no way to know," Tim answered. "They barely believed us when we first told them but I think they're falling for it. Except for Robert. I'm telling you that guy is creepy!"
"Not to be rude or anything but what's your plan, boss?" Dick asked. "Lay low until this all blows over?"
"Mostly yes," Bruce said. "As much as I hate it, it's my best option if I want to avoid the prison camp."
"You said mostly," Barbara noticed. "I'm sensing a 'but' coming."
"I have to find Cain," Bruce said. "Regardless of what else is going on. Since I doubt the league has a clue where to find him."
"And you do?" Dick responded. "You're practically a fugitive now. You can't just put on your suit and go prance around looking for Cain."
"I'm not going in the suit," Bruce informed him. "You forget that there are some places only creatures like Cain can go in. Those are the kinds of places I'm going to have to search if I want to find him." The doorbell rang.
"That's odd," Tim stated. He looked at Bruce. "Were you planning on having someone over?"
"No I wasn...wait," Bruce said. He then face palmed himself. "Idiot. I've got to go get dressed. I'll see you downstairs in a few minutes." He then left to go to his room to change.
"What was that about?" Dick questioned. The other two shrugged their shoulders. "Well let's see who he invited over." The three of them headed downstairs and saw Alfred had already let the person in.
"Master Dick, Miss Gordon, Master Timothy, this is Diana Prince," Alfred introduced. The three saw Miss Prince standing in the lobby and realized something else immediately. This was Wonder Woman!