I do not own the rights to the Justice League.

Interviews and Interventions

Suzy's POV

"So now what?" I ask, looking at Waller and Batman sitting across the table from me.

"I have a couple questions," says Waller. Typical, trying to show she's more in charge than Batman. "If this Reality Effect is real, how was Gardner able to travel here in the first place?"

Okay, so she does have a valid question, one that I hadn't given thought to before.

After some time, Batman was the one who finally responds. "I have a theory. As demonstrated, his world and ours is connected. I believe they're connected in such a way, that the device causes a brief overlap, suspending "The Rules" here, and "The Reality Effect" there, allowing Gardner to travel between. It only lasts a few seconds before the Reality Effect kicks back in, which is why I had a hard time trying to retrieve Suzy."

He lets the explanation sink in, and I can't help but shake my head at it. It sounds like complete bullshit to me, but I'm not a scientist, so what would I know? Considering the very nature of The Rules, it's probably bullshit that works. I'd seen crazier plot devices when in Gardner's world.

Then I decide it's my turn to ask a question. "How come Stuart turned into an action figure? And is Gardner going to be charged for murder?"

Gardner snorts. "I just turned him into an action figure. You're the one who pummeled him into a thousand pieces. If anything, you're the murderer."

I glare at him, while Waller answers. "There isn't a precedence for what happened to Stuart. If anything you saved the government time and money that would have been spent on prosecuting him."

Seeing our confused looks, Batman clarifies the situation a bit. "Nobody is going to be prosecuted for his death, Stuart's responsible for his own fate. As for the action figure part... I'm still working on it."

So he had nothing. The World's Greatest Detective was at a loss for once. As wrong as it probably was, a small part of me couldn't help but feel smug.

"Oh," says Gardner, "I thought it was because I called him a comic book character, and turning into plastic was easier than turning into an actual comic book."

We all kind of look at him strangely. Once again it sounds like a bullshit theory, but given what I've been through in the past couple days, I believe in anything at this point. Actually, it's not really that much crazier than Batman's theory from earlier. I then decide to stop questioning things, and just go with the flow from now on. Otherwise, I'll drive myself crazy trying to figure out how things are possible.

Batman just nods, and decides to change the topic. Wow, he really doesn't like being shown up. "Before you both can leave, what you've seen and experienced in the other world, stays here in this room."

In other words, don't blab his and the League's secret identities. I knew it was going to be brought up eventually, but had kind of forgotten about it. "Rule Number Six. Even if I told everybody who you were, nobody would believe me. People here are blind when it comes to secret identities."

He doesn't have an answer for that, and Waller just smirks. I bet she secretly enjoys all of my jabs at him.

Still smiling, she asks, "Where is the device now?"

This time Batman lets a slow smile spread across his face as he dumps a plastic bag full of little pieces on the table; all that was left of the device after Stuart smashed it. Waller must have not been paying attention when I explained that part. Well that, or just hoping it wasn't damaged too much. Sucks to be her right now.

"You knew something like this was going to happen," says Waller accusingly at Batman.

He shrugs. "I had a hunch. The last time Stuart and Suzy had a showdown, it ended with her punching him. I figured this time it would probably end more violently."

Gardner starts cracking up at that, while I can't do much, but glare. Despite only meeting a couple of times, he knows me so well. Which, is rather sad once I think about it.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get anything else, Waller says goodbye, and exits the room. To my and Batman's surprise, Gardner follows her out the steel door that's the entrance to the room.

Taking advantage of the only time with Batman before Gardner returns (he has to return at some point, Batman is his ride home), I decide to talk to Batman one on one.

"Since I'm not allowed to discuss stuff outside this room, there's something I need to talk to you about. I learned a lot of interesting things while in Gardner's world. For example, you'd be surprised to learn the number of fics that pair you and Wonder Woman together."

Batman doesn't even move, or let his feelings show on his face, so I continue. "And I'm one of those fans. There was an episode that takes place in the future. The future you ends up lonely, bitter, and depressed, which you really don't deserve after everything you've done. You're the Batman, a hero, and you deserve a happy ending. Wonder Woman is a big girl who can take care of herself. And yes, at some point your kids might be kidnapped or used against you, but they'll also be saved in the end. It's in The Rules after all. So you need to get over your rich boy with dead parent issues act, suck it up, and ask her out. And this is coming from me."

He just looks at me, before saying, "I'll think about it."

Gardner then enters the room, and saves Batman from more of my rants considering his love life. Batman asks him, "What was that about?"

I am interested in why he had to talk to Waller, but I also want a better answer from Batman. Like I said, he doesn't deserve his current future. That entire episode was just creepy and depressing, and something should be done to change it. Worse case scenario, I'll go to Nikki and Gary who can get the entire WatchTower staff work on setting Batman up on a date. It's not like he can avoid all of them. Maybe even send Annie his way, even I agreed to a couple blind dates if it meant getting her off my back.

Gardner responds, "I was just telling her that in this world, the Justice League are the good guys, and will always be the good guys. Which makes her and Cadmus the bad guys. This version of Cadmus isn't as bad as other versions, and I just wanted to make sure it stays that way. I told her I understood what she fears about the League, but with The Rules on her side, she'll never have to worry about them becoming the Lords or Injustice League, and Cadmus should lighten up a little."

"How'd she take it?" I ask.

"She said she'd think about it."

I start laughing, while Batman glares, and Gardner looks confused. Apparently, Batman and Waller are more alike than they care to admit.

Gardner's POV

So once Stuart was destroyed, his goons surrendered since they were afraid I would do the same to them that I did to Stuart. Then the military swooped in, and Suzy and I were being escorted to a super top secret headquarters place. Suzy, who had been debriefed before, demanded a hot shower, change of clothes, medical treatment, and food before she would say anything. Watching them all squirm under her glare and insistence was one of my favorite parts. Oh, she also demanded her family being contacted to let them know she was safe.

Two hours later (I had taken advantage of Suzy's demands as well), I was sitting in an interview room explaining everything that happened. Once that and my little chat with Waller about Cadmus backing off the League, I was in the Batmobile.

That's right, the Batmobile. I'm not sure how it ended up where we were, but Batman decided it was the safest way to travel with my, 'Reality Effect'. Did I mention we were on the way to the Batcave? He had a device there that he was fairly sure could send me home, and since Suzy and I already knew his secret identity, there was no point in hiding who he was. This little vacation was actually turning out to be rather awesome.

The look on my face must have screamed, 'I want to touch and play with all the buttons', because he gave a look that rivaled Angela's whenever she loaned me something. Break one, and you're done. Taking the hint, I behaved like a good little fanboy, and leaned back in the chair and dozed. Suzy did the same.

At one point, he asked if 'dun dun dun dun… BATMAN!' sounded familiar, and I told him it was the theme song to the old campy version of Batman with Adam West, which actually wasn't that bad to if you were playing Angela's drinking game. When I asked why, he just said that our worlds had other moments that overlapped before. Knowing better than to push the Batman for more details, I let it go, thinking that there had to be some hilarious story there.

Eventually we made it to the Batcave. I wished I had a camera or something to preserve the moment. Instead all I got was a nod from Batman, and a goodbye from Suzy.

Alright, it was more than a simple goodbye. She hugged me. Not like, I-like-you kind of hug, but more like, I'm-your-friend-kind of hug. Then she said, "Don't do anything stupid. Tell your sister things will get better, Angela to keep being Angela, and your mom that I made up with my family."

That was the closest that Suzy had ever gotten to admitting she cared about me or my family. In return I thought she deserved the same. "Stop dating boyfriends bent on world domination, and lighten up a bit. Just because you use sarcasm as a defense mechanism, doesn't mean you have to use it all the time. Lighten up a little."

The defense thing had to be said at some point. Suzy had a serious attitude problem, and judging by the look on her face, I was the first person to call her out on it. But she lets the moment pass without a clever retort. I'm fairly sure I caught what looked to be a tear hiding in the corner of her eye. Who knew she actually cared so much? Or that I cared in return?

Batman reacts to the moment by putting a hand over his mouth to hide a grin.

He's not getting off that easy. "Hey, I heard what she was telling you, and she's right. You deserve happiness, so stop angsting and ask Wonder Woman out already. If not, I wouldn't put it past Suzy to go to Wonder Woman and tell her the same thing, and I can't see Wonder Woman taking 'no' lightly."

The grin vanishes. He's not happy with getting advice about his love life from the two of us. Suzy and I, just smile at his reaction. It had to be done at some point though, just like with Suzy. Besides, what was he going to do, not send me home? Given the amount of stuff I had on him, I doubt he would allow me to stay.

Deciding to ignore the advice (shocker!) he says, "I've managed to input the coordinates of where you live, so you should appear at your house."

That was rather nice and unexpected of him. I nod, then step on the pad. Then I'm gone.

**Author's Note**

I got three reviews last chapter! Is it too much to hope for more this chapter since the story is reaching an end? My reviewers, Loki's Son, Dark Thunder27, and AidenSurvival, all deserve a huge round of applause for reviewing last chapter.

I hope the explanations for Gardner being able to travel through worlds, and Stuart turning into an action figure make sense. I never explained the how and why behind both and thought it should be done. Like Suzy said, they're both crazy theories, but given the JL universe, they're also crazy enough to work.

Next chapter is the last chapter. No more chapters, no more stories. What ideas I had for a JLU fic, I've used. On a brighter note, look forward to seeing one last major twist. It should make since, and hopefully won't be too cliched.

Suzy and Gardner were both rather convenient in this chapter with their 'interventions'. I've never been fond of "Epilogue" since it paints such a bleak future for Batman. Yes, it deals with Terry from Batman Beyond, but that's the only decent thing about it. Waller's involvement with Cadmus to 'recreate' a Batman is rather creepy. I know Batman isn't a 'happily ever after' type, but he could at least try, especially with all the BMxWW shipping in the series. Also, as Gardner points out, Waller and Cadmus aren't that bad in Justice League Unlimited. At least, not as creepy as their portrayal in Young Justice with the 'Light'. They really do have good intentions, even if they go about them the wrong way.

I thought that it was time for Batman to be told to stop being so angsty and hesitant toward having a family. If Harry Potter can get over his issues and marry Ginny, Batman can do the same. I also thought Waller should realize that in her world, the Justice League are, and will always be the good guys. Both are things that I've always wanted to address, and Suzy and Gardner allowed me to do so. Oh, and I managed to sneak in once last reference to Hacker.

As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!