Disclaimer

The characters in the story are the property of DC Comics and Warner Bros. I have used them in this story which is entirely a product of my own imagination

Chap 13

"My identity is not the biggest secret I hols, Clarke!"

27th December – 12:00AM

"What is wrong with you?" Nightwing cried, after rounding up the thugs from the infamous Rupert Thorn gang, trying to break into Wayne Tech.

Batman did not speak.

"Really, Batman! If it wasn't for me, that bullet would've gone straight through your
head! How on earth could you let him shoot you from such a close range?"

Batman closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Nightwing was determined know what was bothering him, or at the least, to win an acknowledgement for saving his life. He realised he had to give at least one of them.

"Thank you, Nightwing!" he offered as he made his way across the street with his grab wall. Nightwing pursued him. He realised Batman wasn't going back home.

"And where do you think you're going?" he questioned, as he caught up with him on the roof of a building.

"Not your concern," Batman growled, as he took out his binoculars.

"Spying on the girl huh!" Nightwing remarked.

"I said, not your concern," Batman growled.

"Ah, comm'on! You owe your life to me, remember!" Nightwing protested.

"Don't push it, Dick! Go back home!" Batman ordered.

"So much for being the saviour!" Dick muttered as he turned around and engaged his grab wall.

"Dick!" a sudden call from his guardian surprised him.

"I want you to check up on someone in the Bat-computer. Her name is Lisa Prince!"

"Ahem! So, you admit she was the one bothering you!" Dick said, taking a note of it.

"Just do as told, boy!" Batman growled.

Nightwing wasted no time in swinging away. He was contended with what he'd got.

It started to snow. Batman stayed on the roof top, hoping to get a glance of Lisa who lived in a borrowed penthouse apartment right across the street. The light was on, suggesting that Lisa was indeed at home. After a few minutes, the silhouette of a perfectly sculpted woman appeared in the living room. He could see a light flicker, suggesting she had turned on the TV. He wished he was a psychic, for he was dying to know what she was thinking.

Cold and fierce wind blew persistently across his face, resulting in the unguarded part of it going numb. Minutes passed like hours, until he realised he couldn't stand the suspense any longer. He couldn't bear the idea of one woman driving him so crazy and filling up his mind so much that he almost lost his life getting caught off guard. He could not let that happen again. He wanted to clear up a few things with her, once and for all.

Lisa's train of thoughts was interrupted by a knock on her door. She snapped back to senses and realised that she had been watching a Kids TV Channel all this time, and the coffee had spilled over her night gown. She stood up abruptly and her knee hit the table, bringing the porcelain fruit bowl crashing onto the floor.

A more fervent knock on the door forced her to attend to the door immediately. She almost broke the door knob as she pulled the door without turning it. She did not as much as care to see through the peephole to confirm who her unexpected visitor was. As she pulled the door open, she saw a perplexed Bruce Wayne.

"Bruce!" Lisa cried. Bruce had all his attention on the coffee stained night gown and littered floor of the living room. Lisa grew conscious of her less than appropriate appearance.

"I just wanted to clear off a few things before...um...you know, you formally adjourn our relationship – or whatever it was -" he paused to give her the chance to respond.

"Please come in!" she held his palm and walked him into the room, and closed the door
behind him.

Bruce made himself comfortable on the couch and expected that she'd take the chair in front of him. Instead, she sat next to him on the couch.

Bruce moved away nervously as he began, "Lisa, I understand my behaviour that day was very inappropriate, but you must realise that such things are nothing more than social obligations to me. I don't know if you really care, but I felt this strong urge to explain and...I felt guilty for the first time in my life for having hurt someone -" That did not sound like the right expression, as Lisa's neytral countenance turned into a frown.

Silence prevailed in the room as Bruce waited for Lisa to react. He realised he could not look into her eyes which glared intently at him. He bent his head and started counting the grapes that littered the floor near the table. He needed something to pretend to pay attention to. He had never been in such a situation before, and with each passing moment, he felt his nerves pull across his head.

Lisa finally let out a sigh and bent her head. Bruce was filled with remorse and thought he was going to cry. But he composed himself and stood up.

"I guess that's it! It's been wonderful knowing you, Lisa, and if you can, please forgive me. I promise I will not interfere with your life anymore." He offered his hand for a shake but Lisa did not return it. He felt humiliated, and walked across the room silently, to the door.

"Won't you say it, Bruce!" a choked voice startled him, as his hand slipped off the door knob. It was Lisa, and she was crying.

"Lisa!" Bruce exclaimed, stunned by the sudden change of mood.

"I knew you'd not say. It was wrong of me to assume!" Lisa screamed, as she broke into a cry.

Bruce rushed to hold her. She cuddled in his arms. She was remarkably tall enough for him to feel her brilliant soft hair in his face and warm tears on his neck. He unwittingly covered the back of her head with his palm and stroked her hair. He felt her cheek touch his own as she moved her face away, without disengaging from the embrace.

Lisa's eyes showed a feeling of eager anticipation. Her hands moved along his back rested themselves firmly upon his shoulders. Then they rubbed their way towards the neck and from there, took an upturn to the jaw and finally towards the cheeks. She waited for him to make a move as she cupped his face in her hands.

Bruce felt a sudden surge of affection and feared that his heart would give away if the feeling continued to increase at the same rate.

He realised that there was just one thing to be done.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him as their lips engaged into a passionate lock that seemed to last for eternity. Both panted as they struggled for air, but refused to disengage.

There was no room for air between them, whatsoever!