Chapter 7: Spreading the Fear

Batman watched Diana execute the training program from a darkened corner of the training room. J'onn and Superman, the only other Founders who were not involved in a mission, were standing some distance away. This was a necessary, but tedious, event, Batman thought. Diana would run through the training program and the three of them would decide if she could be cleared for mission duty. Founders reviewed other Founders because, as Flash pointed out, was Fire ever really going to tell Wonder Woman that she wasn't up to a mission?

This was the only administrative task that Batman didn't think was a complete waste of his time (which didn't mean it wasn't tedious). A lot of lives rested on making sure that no League member went back on duty until absolutely back to normal. So, he tried as much as possible to be one of the three-member committee to take part in the process. He found when he was on a committee to review a newer member of the League, that member would often wait and heal more rather than risk being called "incapable" by Batman.

Diana had insisted on a review as soon as J'onn's prescribed "two days of rest" were over. In fact, Batman thought with a hint of amusement, she started the training program two days and 30 minutes after her injury. She was doing very well though – there seemed to be no lingering effects of the blood loss as she kicked, punched and blocked her way through endless hologram villains.

Once the program was complete, Diana stood there, with a haughty expression on her face while the three men discussed her status. After only a minute, the three turned to face Diana.

"You are, effective immediately, back on mission duty," Superman said with a smile.

Diana nodded, her expression unchanged. She had not expected anything else.

"Then let's get to work," she said and headed for the door.

Knowing her as well as did, Batman had anticipated the abrupt departure and was able to fall in line beside her as she left the training room. Superman and J'onn were quickly left behind – although Batman knew that they were still well within the range of Superman's hearing, should the Man of Steel decide to listen.

"A moment of your time, Princess," he said.

"Of course, what do you need?" she asked with all seriousness, but an affectionate glint in her eyes.

"I have a job tonight and I would like to discuss the outcome with you this evening. Perhaps at nine? At the Manor?"

Diana arched a questioning eyebrow at him. "The Manor?"

"I have some updates for you as well," he said mysteriously.

"All right then. Just kindly remind Alfred that strawberries are in season," she said.

Batman nodded and increased his pace. Before he fell out of earshot, he said, without turning around, "it will take me a while to update you on everything. It has been nearly three days."

Diana didn't need to see the smirk on his face to know it was there.

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After returning to his lab to a dead mouse, Weston had vowed not to leave for more than 30 minutes until he got a serum that worked. He had gone as far to move a cot into the laboratory. The rational part of him knew that had he been asleep in the lab rather than in the rooms upstairs, he would not have heard the mouse die, but the louder part of him was determined to not have a repeat of the episode.

He returned from a twenty-minute run to the nearby deli to get some dinner and instantly checked his mice. They were all fine. However, the three that had gotten some serum before he left did not show any sign of a change. He sat down in the stool that was in front of the cages and opened the waxed paper and took a big bite of his roast beef sandwich. He was chewing and reaching into the brown paper bag for both his drink and chips when he heard a whoosh on the other side of the table.

He ignored it.

"Smells good," a voice said, darkly.

Weston froze and when he looked towards the voice, he wished he wasn't frozen because he wanted to run away as quickly as possible.

Batman found me.

Which explained how "smells good," could sound like a threat.

Why a man dressed like a bat could be so terrifying, Weston really couldn't explain. What he did know is that not only could he not move (or chew), he couldn't speak.

"You need a new research project," Batman said.

Weston finally managed to swallow the bite of sandwich.

"I can't."

Even through the mask, Weston saw the look of disbelief and disgust.

"You can."

"They'll find me."

"They won't," Batman said.

"What? Can you hide me?"

"Perhaps," Batman said.

"What does that mean?" Weston said, the mix of hope and terror that had taken over his mind was echoed in his voice.

"It means I have some questions," Batman said. "And I want you to answer them."

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When Batman left ten minutes later, Weston found he had lost interest in his sandwich. Twenty minutes after that, Weston finally recovered enough from the encounter to think to check his supply of blood and serum.

One vial of the blood and one vial of serum were missing. Everything else was left intact.

More confused than relieved, Weston finally found his appetite had returned. Upon finishing his sandwich, he realized that he had not come to an agreement with Batman.

Which means he is going to be watching, Weston thought with a shudder.

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Diana, taking no risks that a photographer was still following them, teleported into the Batcave a few minutes before nine. She didn't fully understand the need for a secret identity but she did understand that those who had them were very protective. By teleporting into the Batcave, Diana could be certain that she would enter unseen. She also knew that to teleport into the Batcave from the Watchtower, you had to know both the coordinates and three passwords.

When she materialized in the Batcave, Alfred was waiting for her.

"Good evening, Princess Diana," he said formally.

She smiled at him. "Good evening, Alfred. How are you?"

"All the better for seeing you in good health, if I may say," he said.

Her smile got larger. Clearly her efforts to convince him to be less formal with her had worked a little. As a princess, she was accustomed to people treating her with a certain amount of respect, but she also was aware that now that she was in Man's World, she needed friends more than she needed people waiting on her.

Diana motioned to the Batmobile. "Bruce is back from his mission then. Any idea of how it went?"

"No, ma'am. However, he spent most of the evening in the lab."

"So, a success then," Diana noted.

"Master Bruce asked me to meet you," said Alfred as he began to direct her to the elevator and the entrance to the Manor. Although Diana certainly was close to Bruce, she wasn't family and therefore, he had said all he was going to about Master Bruce's work. "He wanted to freshen up before your arrival."

"Oh, I don't mind waiting at all," she said, following Alfred obediently.

"And I am to tell you that we have strawberries," Alfred said.

"Alfred, thank you," Diana said sincerely. Even if she didn't find out what Bruce had discovered that kept him in the lab, at least there would be strawberries.

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Bruce jogged down the stairs to the study, where Alfred would have taken Diana to wait. Dressed in his signature black pants and dark grey shirt, he stopped a few stairs from the bottom when he saw Alfred and Diana emerge from hidden elevator from the Batcave.

Diana stepped off and smiled at him. Bruce felt a sudden surge of lust, which continually surprised him. Yes, she was beautiful. And, yes, dressed in a simple white dress and gold, Grecian-inspired sandals, the ease of her movement made her even more desirable. However, he had never been in a relationship that had lasted as long as theirs had and still felt such a physical craving each time he saw her.

"Welcome, Princess," he said and casually trotted down the last several stairs. He kissed her gently and turned to Alfred. "Thank you, Alfred, for welcoming her."

"A pleasure, Master Bruce. The study is ready for you."

"Excellent, thank you, Alfred."

Alfred nodded and left the couple alone.

Diana wrapped her arm around Bruce's waist. "I missed evenings at the Manor," she said leaning into him a bit.

He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her in a little closer as they walked into the study. "I did too. More than I realized when I saw you standing there." He realized as he said it just how much he meant it. Somehow, her being in the house gave it a more cheerful air and the Manor desperately needed it.

They walked into the study – which was one of Bruce's favorite rooms. It was very masculine – wood paneling, leather chairs and a large wooden desk but the Wayne book collection was primarily housed in that room. As a child, Bruce would spend hours reading in one of the chairs while his father worked. Usually thoughts of his parents gave him a dull ache, but that memory never did.

Alfred had left a tray with two parfait glasses filled with sliced strawberries on a small end table he had moved between two of the leather chairs. There also was a bottle of champagne and two chilled glasses. Bruce smiled a bit at the sight.

"Champagne and compliments?" Diana asked, in a teasing tone. "How many secrets are you planning on keeping from me tonight, Bruce?"

"I don't keep secrets," Bruce replied with mock indignation. But this was not the tone he wanted for the evening.

"No, of course not," Diana responded, giving his chest a playful swat before removing her arm and going to one of the chairs. "You are an open book."

"Ask anyone, they'll tell you," he said, enjoying the teasing, even if it was at his expense, while he opened the bottle of champagne. Pouring them each a glass, he sat down, holding his glass.

"Oh, they'll tell me something, all right," Diana quipped. Bruce looked at her for a moment.

"Good of you to wait until I had a glass in my hand, Princess," he said. "Otherwise, the consequences of that remark would have been terrible."

Diana laughed. Bruce loved the sound and he relished it for a moment. Then, suddenly, she turned temptress.

"And what exactly would those consequences be?" she asked seductively.

It was Bruce's turn to laugh. She was quite tempting, but her skills were not quite as sharp as she liked to think, which suited him just fine. "I have no idea. But hold that thought. We really do need to talk about what's going on."

Diana nodded and relaxed back in her chair, all teasing gone. She put down the champagne and picked up one of the glasses of strawberries. "You are right, of course. Let's start with the obvious. How did you find the photographer?"

Bruce knew she was going to ask him about that first but still wished she hadn't. He wasn't sure what he could have done for Bortz, but he also couldn't shake the feeling that he was responsible for the man's death.

"He was murdered. I visited his residence when I read that a variety of photographs had been burned. Based on his style, he was the guy."

Diana's shoulders sagged as a sense of loss swept over her. "Oh no. That is awful. So, you think it was the people who hired him?"

"It stands to reason," Bruce answered.

"Who hired him?" she asked, clearly ready for action. She didn't like what the photographer had done, but she liked someone murdering him even less.

"I'm working on that. I need to find what he discovered that cost him his life. Knowing about our relationship couldn't have been it, unless that wasn't why he was hired. Based on the threats, I think it was."

"We need to find out. What they did was unacceptable."

"I agree."

"So, was that the job you did this evening?" she asked.

"No. I visited the scientist who is working on your blood," Bruce said and waited. The warrior in Diana was going to have a few choice words about that development.

"Is working?" she said. "Don't you mean, 'was working'?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because we don't know enough about the plan to shut him down." It was the truth and Bruce stood by it.

"When would you know enough, Bruce?" Diana's calm voice was beginning to leak her fury but she just managed to keep it under control. "When you crawled into that man's brain and figured out his motivation? Or when you knew the names of everyone who wanted to benefit from whatever potion he is making from my blood? When the financial backers of his financial backers' backers were exposed? When exactly would it be enough? When can we just go in and stop this madness?"

Bruce glared at her and allowed the silence to linger for a moment. Then, in a voice darker and deeper than he intended, he answered her.

"When I can ensure that he and no one who is supporting him will ever try this again," he said coldly. "And when I can ensure that when we 'stop this madness' another group doesn't try the same thing with the same research. In other words, Princess, I know enough when I know enough to totally shut this down."

They glared at each other for a moment, both absolutely convinced that the other was missing the bigger picture. Diana's planning and strategy abilities were well-developed and insightful but she was a trained warrior who, once the enemy was identified and located, went in and destroyed everything. Bruce knew the best way to stop a project permanently was to stop the flow of money and then destroy the data trail.

"This goes to the group for discussion," Diana said, evenly but the anger was clear. "Tomorrow."

"Fine," Bruce replied. "I have a conference call in the morning. I'll come to the Watchtower afterwards."

Diana stood up, clearly planning on leaving.

"Diana," Bruce said gently, but realized he didn't know what to say.

"Bruce," Diana responded, "I understand this is just one of those areas where we are never going to agree which is why we need the other League Founders to join this conversation. I'm all right with that. But I want to leave this room for the rest of the evening."

"Where do you want to go?" Bruce was glad she didn't want to leave the Manor, but this request was one he wasn't sure how to handle.

"Not where you'd hope, I'm sure." She picked up her strawberries and champagne glass. "Let's go to the dining room. You can try to be charming and perhaps, I will wait for you while you are on patrol."

Bruce picked up his glasses and, preparing to follow her, he grinned a little. "As you wish, Princess."