Chapter 17

"So this is getting even more out of control, this killer was potentially willing to burn down a homeless shelter to ensure getting his target." Bruce expounded.

"Tell us something we don't know." Wolverine replied.

"This means he is getting closer to the point where he will try and make contact with Ororo." Bruce replied.

"Is that good or bad." Piotr asked.

"Depends on his delusion, if he expects her to just fall into his arms he could blow and decide to take her out. On the other hand if his fantasy involves winning her over or proving himself he will probable try to kidnap her and or commit more murders." Bruce explained, as he leaned back in the desk chair.

"Then we need to be ready for him." Sabertooth replied as flared his claws and looked them over dramatically.

"From now on she goes nowhere alone." Bruce explained. "Wanda that means you're going to be pulling the brunt of the guard duty."

"Do I have any say in this?" Ororo asked.

"No," Bruce replied before he turned back to the others.

"Now hang on a minute." Ororo demanded as she came up to loom over Bruce. "I don't know what kind of women you are used to dealing with but I am not some hothouse flower in need of coddling. I can take care of myself."

"What do you think would happen if he cornered you somewhere you couldn't use your powers or on the off chance he can neutralize them all together?" Bruce asked as he surged up to meet her glare.

"I would put a knife in his gut." Ororo replied. "I have lost my powers before and still managed to contribute to my team."

"We don't kill." Bruce growled.

"I know first aid." She replied. "I agree that I shouldn't go out alone but I refuse to have eyes on me 24/7."

"And I refuse to let the woman I love be taken out by an obsessed psycho." Bruce snapped.

"Then we are going to need one hell of a compromise." Cain butted in reminding them that they were not alone.

"Might I suggest that the two of you split up and think about just what points you are not willing to negotiate on, and then come back to this discussion?" Magneto suggested.

"I have to deal with Talia." Bruce stated as he turned on his heel.

...

The time had come for him to present himself before her, granted he had missed the heretic he was sure that she would understand and forgive his mistake. The prophet counseled him to have patience that it wasn't yet time for him to ascend that there was still things he had to do. But it was getting harder to think to play the day to day game of hiding who he was.

If there was any greater sign that he was prepared to ascend it was his growing inability to relate to the everyday. He was prepared leave this mortal form and become more. But first he needed to find the proper gift a knight does not return to his lady without a proper tribute and gift. The question remained what would make the biggest impact an item or a life.

...

"What exactly were you thinking Talia?" Bruce asked once he had finally tracked her down to a café not far from the hotel her father and her were staying.

"What do you mean beloved?" she asked looking up from her paper, and gestured for him to take a seat.

"Hacking into my company's computers to mess with the profit projections so that they would show a future loss." Bruce replied as he pulled out the chair and took a seat.

"Merely opening your eyes to the disaster that your actions are going to bring about." She replied. "Even if she should be of my father's bloodline beloved, she does not have the upbringing to properly help you guide the future of both dynasties."

"Dynasties?" Bruce asked incredulously half afraid of what he was about to hear.

"That of both our parents; my father's plans to bring balance to this world, as well as this city that your parents once ruled." Talia replied.

"My parents have never ruled Gotham." Bruce replied.

"Did your family not contribute to its creation and running, how many of this city's building have or current bare your family's name?" Talia expounded, "Even now your own mission is it not to bring order to this city that fell into chaos after your parents death."

"This city has always been in chaos." Bruce stated. "My mission has always been to keep it safe and from becoming worse."

"So you say, but wasn't one of the first things you did when you returned to Gotham was to oust the mafia, the old regime?" Talia asked. "Have not your ancestor done the same throughout the generations guiding and fighting for this city, since they came here in 1640."

"Can I just say how creepy it is that you know so much about my family?" Bruce replied voicing a thought he had never been able to while as Batman.

"Is it not proper for a wife to know about her husband?" Talia replied giving him coy smile.

"We are not and never will be married." Bruce returned with a flat stare.

"You really should start accepting this beloved." Talia replied confidently "We have been bound since I first heard your name, my father's desires will not be denied."

"The issue with that is that his plans for me know include your 'half-sister'." Bruce remarked as he moved to rise. "There is no talking to you logically so I will leave you with this thought. If your father's will is absolute and that you are my destined bride, why are you trying so hard?" Bruce replied as he stood up and pushed in his chair, "Good bye, Talia."

He was moving towards the door when it was suddenly thrown open and bullets sprayed across the ceiling. He ducked down pulling the two people near him along with him. He looked up to see the Joker and his minions securing the café. This being Gotham is wasn't THAT uncommon but the Joker's outfit was. Along with his trademark suit he was wearing hip waders, multi pocket vest, and a hat covered with fishing lures.

"You know Brucie boy this doesn't look good for you." Joker exclaimed walking toward him. Bruce started to push himself up from where he was covering the two women he had pulled down with him. "Here you are engaged to my mother and you are rolling around on the floor with two other women."

"She is not your mother." Bruce replied.

"You should be careful about what you say Brucie as your stepson I can make life very difficult for you." Joker replied as he dug the barrel of his gun under Bruce's chin. "But in the interest of trying to create a peaceful relationship I have decided that we are going fishing." He said as he flung his arms out wide.

"Fishing?" Bruce asked.

"Fishing" the Joker replied as he draped one of his arms over his shoulders. "I have the perfect place all picked out." The Joker continued as he pulled Bruce towards the door. "Nice quiet spot where we can bond uninterrupted for hours." Bruce looked over his shoulder at Talia who already had her phone in her hand. She gave him a subtle nod as he allowed himself to be pulled out that door.

Once that last gun man had left the building Talia wasted no time in heading towards the door while hitting the necessary sequence on her phone in order to contact her father. "Father," she greeted quickly. "Bruce has just been abducted by the Joker from the Lunner Neko Café down the street from our hotel. And it looks like they are heading west in two cars." She explained before she fired off a description of the cars that the Joker and his henchman used.

"Why has the clown taken him?" Ra's Al Ghul asked as he dispensed her information to his men.

"To bond over fishing." Talia replied leaving her father speechless for a second.

...

There they were both of the defilers, if this wasn't a sign he didn't know what was. Both of these men laid a false claim to his goddess in essence they were stealing from her. As her knight it was only right that he remove these threats. This is the perfect opportunity to finally prove his worth to her fully. The final act he must undergo before he could join her side. With the removal of these pretenders she would have no one to but him to turn to.

He could see it know he would go to her earthly domain and present her with the remains of these two men. She would look at him and know everything he had done in her name. Then she would walk into his arms and the two of them would ascend together off of this mortal plane and back to her true home. It would all work out everything would finally make sense no more confusion, no more disrespect, everything would be perfect. All he had to do was kill Bruce Wayne and the Joker; they even made it easy for him sitting in a boat in the middle of a secluded lake.