Chapter 17: Discussions

"You look happy, what's up?" Flash asked as Wonder Woman entered the room for her shift of monitor duty.

"I just had a nice evening with a friend," Wonder Woman responded with a smile.

"Seems it was more than that by the way you're smiling," Flash said. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"What's makes you think it's a man that is the cause of the smile on my face?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Because that's usually how my friends look after their dates," Flash told her.

"Well I can assure you I was not on a date," Wonder Woman said. "I was hanging out with some friends."

"Uh, right, and I bet turtles are secretly speedsters," Flash responded sarcastically. Wonder Woman gave him a furious glare.

"He's just a friend," Wonder Woman informed him. "Nothing. More. Guys and girls can be friends without getting feelings for each other."

"Sure, but most of the time…" Flash started. He was interrupted by the door opening revealing an aggravated Robert Hood. "Well someone's cranky. What's got your cape in a knot?"

"Nothing. Absolutely NOTHING," Robert shouted. "WE have NO leads as to where Batman is. And we have NO clue what David Cain is up to. And we don't know what the Batclan is hiding…"

"Batclan?" Flash said with a chuckle. "You make it sound like they're a cult."

"And on top of that those rookies are practically useless at gathering information on what they are up to…," Robert added.

"Hey!" Flash exclaimed. "They're not useless! Don't call them that."

"I said they are useless at gathering information. I never said they are useless," Robert clarified.

"Well, either way, I don't appreciate you implying that those three are useless," Wonder Woman told him. "So how about you go and calm yourself down before you say anything else you might regret?" She held out her hand. "I'll continue digging for clues on the list of suspects." Robert huffed in annoyance before slamming the flash drive into her hand and leaving the monitor room.

"Nice," Flash said.

"Thanks," Wonder Woman responded. She pulled the flash drive into the computer. "Now, let's see…."

"So, what are you working on now?" Robin asked.

"I'm trying to develop a cure for the new drug Cain's manufacturing," Bruce responded.

"Is that a bit dangerous to be doing since…. you know," Robin said gesturing to Bruce.

"It won't harm me since I'm not currently on the drug," Bruce told him.

"And the usual vampire weaknesses?" Robin questioned as gestured to the table with garlic on it. "Will that not…"

"I'm a hybrid," Bruce informed him. "The worst this stuff will do is burn my skin or give me a headache." Bruce rubbed his head which indicated his point. "Could you please get me an aspirin?" Robin pulled one out of his utility belt and passed it to him. "Thank you."

"Master Bruce," Alfred said as he entered the cave. Both Bruce and Robin turned in his direction. "Master Grayson would like to speak with you regarding Miss Cassandra."

"Let him know I will be up shortly," Bruce responded. Bruce turned to Robin. "You finish this; I'll go talk with Dick."

"Wait, what?" Robin replied with utter confusion on his face. "How do I…"

"The amount of ingredients for this batch is on the tablet. Follow it and you'll be fine," Bruce told him before heading up to the house. Robin sighed.

" 'Finish this' he says, 'follow what's on the tablet' he says, 'it'll be fine' he says," Robin mocked. "Easy for him to say. He's done this kind of stuff a million times. First time I did chemistry stuff I blew up a beaker."

"If it makes you feel better, Master Timothy, Master Bruce has had his fair share of lab accidents," Alfred informed him. "Some were more damaging than simply a broken beaker."

"Really?" Robin questioned.

"Very much so," Alfred responded. "And if you finish mixing that concoction quickly, I might be able to tell you about some of them before Master Bruce comes back." Robin smiled.

"You've got yourself a deal," Robin stated.

"So, what exactly are we going to do regarding, Cassie?" Dick asked. "She can't stay here all the time."

"I know," Bruce responded. "I've so busy; it's been on the back burner."

"I'm just reminding you," Dick told him. "You might want to get that squared away sooner rather than later. Cause the League is still trying to find Batman and if Bruce Wayne has a mysterious daughter who seemingly doesn't exist…"

"They can connect that with what Sandra told me about her having a daughter," Bruce finished.

"Exactly," Dick said. "So, what's the plan to get her into the system?"

"Surprisingly, she is in the system, however; the problem is getting legal custody of her," Bruce informed him. "Especially if Sandra was never declared dead."

"No, she's been declared dead," Dick told him. "Which should make our job easier in terms of the legal process. However, if the League looks into Cassandra, they can find you. Which leads us back to square one."

"She can't stay cooped up here her whole life either," Bruce said. Bruce felt his phone vibrate so he pulled it out and saw it was a text from Diana.

Do you ever get the urge to punch someone?

"Who is it?" Dick asked.

"A friend," Bruce responded before texting her an answer.

Sometimes, why?

"You going to tell me who?" Dick asked with a raised eyebrow.

A colleague of mine is being incredibly rude and obnoxious. You don't think he'll miss his front teeth, do you? Bruce smirked.

Definitely. So unless you want to pay his dental bill you might want to reign it in a bit. Bruce put his phone back and noticed Dick starting at him.

"What?" Bruce asked.

"Do you have a new girlfriend?" Dick asked jokingly.

"No," Bruce responded hastily. "What makes you think that?"

"You were smirking just now. Over a TEXT MESSAGE," Dick said with emphasis. "So either that's a really good friend or…"

"She's not my girlfriend," Bruce told him.

"So it IS a SHE," Dick responded. Bruce suppressed a groan. Dick was not going to let this go anything soon.

Wonder Woman smiled as she read Bruce's response. As jokingly as she was about knocking out some of Robert's teeth, she had to admit Bruce had a point. She smiled as she texted her response.

Fine. But only because you insist.

Wonder Woman put her phone away before returning to the meeting room begrudgingly. She sighed as she stepped back into the chaos. Hopefully, she could make it out this with SOME patience, but given the screaming match that was going on, she considered that to be very unlikely.

Happy New Year everyone!