Revelations
Diana entered the cave with Batman in her hands. She saw that The Oracle, Batgirl, Black Canary, The Huntress, and Zatanna were indeed returned to their normal selves as she flew straight to Alfred at the medical station. "Alfred! Please! Tell me he's going to be alright!" Diana gently placed Bruce on the medical table as Alfred quickly went to work.
"Don't worry Mistress Diana. I assure you that you will be the very first to know of his condition." Alfred hooked Bruce up to the life support system while analyzing all of his injuries.
Diana was still fuming as her jaw was clenched tightly while watching Alfred carefully take off Bruce's suit. Ares and Circe still needed to pay for this. She hasn't even begun making them pay for what they did to her, for what they did to him.
"Diana?" Diana's thoughts of plotting her revenge on her two enemies quickly faded as Barbra placed her hand on Diana's arm. Diana turned to see her smile warmly. "Bruce will be alright. It's not like he hasn't been badly hurt like this before." Diana knew Barbra was right, but that didn't make it any easier. She sighed and tried to smile as best she could. They both headed back towards the others at the backup computer and allow Alfred to fully concentrate on Bruce's injuries.
"I can't believe Bruce actually annihilated them like that. It's about time they got their asses handed to them! They totally deserved it." Helena replayed the footage of Batman beating down Bane and Killer Croc on the screen with a giant grin on her face.
Dinah raised her eyebrow as she watched Ivy and Harley sitting in the background on the screen. "I think Harley peed in her pants!" Everyone laughed as they gathered around the screen to see. "You really think they are going to change their ways and straighten out?"
"After seeing what Bruce just did to everyone there, I would think so." Zatanna took out her wand and transformed it into a cane to lean on.
Helena crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk on her face. "Talk about intimidation… Batman just supplanted himself as the most dangerous man in the world if he already wasn't. I bet after watching that, no one in their right mind would ever want to go against him."
Barbra paused the video footage on The Cerebral Assassin attacking Ares and Circe. "I wonder how Bruce got him to be in Gotham today…"
"Yea I know… I haven't seen him in ages." Dinah placed her hand on her chin, trying to think of the last time she teamed up with him.
"I'm not sure… Why do you think Colby is back in Gotham Zee?" Diana placed her hands on her hips as she grinned ear to ear while looking at Zatanna.
Zatanna's eyes widened for an instant, she was surprised that Diana put her on the spot like that. Quickly recovering, she raised her eyebrow, trying to play off her initial reaction. "And just how do you know who he is?"
Everyone watched the interactions between Diana and Zatanna with curiosity. Diana tapped the tip of her right index finger on her chin as she looked up at the ceiling smiling. "Ohh… you know how I can get Bruce to tell me things. Like how they trained together while growing up, him being the best fighter in the world, living in San Francisco, very successful…" Diana crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Zatanna as that giant grin reappeared on her face. "… and how you've been dating him for almost a year now…"
Zatanna's jaw dropped in shock, as did everyone else's. "WHAT! How did… who told…" Zatanna immediately turned and glared at Bruce on the medical table while bitterly grumbling out Bruce's name.
"He makes it his business to know remember?" Diana laughed as Zatanna turned back around, beginning to blush.
"Wow. The Sorceress and the Assassin… how romantic." Helena couldn't believe her ears. "How's that even possible? He's more of a loner than Bruce!"
Dinah crossed her arms on her chest as she smirked. "Well… only while he's 'Ghosting', otherwise he's fun to hang out with. So how'd you manage to get him Zee?"
"Yea! I've got to hear this!" Oracle sat straight up, waiting anxiously for Zatanna to tell her story.
Zatanna couldn't help but grin as she twirled her cane. "You know… it's just like us super hero women to take the man we want by force." All of the girls grinned stupidly as they reminisced how they 'forced' their current husband/boyfriend to be their man.
Dinah shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Quit stalling! Details NOW!"
Before Zatanna could begin, the batmobile roared into the cave as Nighting, Robin, Donna, and Ghost all jumped out and immediately came over to them, anxious to know Bruce's condition.
"Dick!" Barbra face lit up as she threw her hands up in the air when he rushed up to hug her. Barbra began to cry as she kissed him repeatedly. "I thought I lost you!"
"For a while… so did I." Dick hugged Barbra as he looked over at the medical station. He watched Alfred rigorously working away at the injuries he and Tim gave Bruce. Tim nodded at Cassandra as they greeted each other by bumping the other's fist.
Donna quickly flew to Diana and gave her a hug. "How is he?"
Diana sighed as she tried to smile at Donna. "Alfred is still working on him… we'll know as soon as Alfred is done."
"Damn it!" Dick slammed his fist into the computer console. "I was completely aware of everything that was happening, and I couldn't stop it. I… I almost killed him."
"You mean WE almost killed him." Tim stood still, not taking his sights off of Bruce as he spoke bitterly. "He let us do that to him…"
"What do you mean he LET you do that to him?" Helena crossed her arms as she raised her eyebrow.
"Let's be real here… it doesn't matter how lethal we become or how strong we are… we can't beat him. He wanted us to win." Dick replayed the footage of him fighting Batman on the screen.
"He would rather give his own life than be forced to have either of you die... You both know that." Diana placed her hand on Tim's shoulder.
"That doesn't make it any easier… How could we live knowing we killed him?" Dick's eyes narrowed as he saw himself throw Batman into the wall.
"Dick…" Barbra placed her hand on his cheek as she turned his head to face her. "It was the same for him when believed that he let the both of you die... and yet, he found a way to overcome it. Just like the both of you would have if Ares had forced you to go that far."
Dick took a deep breath before nodding in agreement. Barbra was right, if he had unwillingly killed Bruce… he would have done whatever it took to correct it, or at least avenge him. "Yea… The decisions we make never seem to get any easier. I just hate it when Bruce disregards his own life to make the right decisions." He looked up at Colby. "Good thing you took down Ares and Circe when you did. When did you actually get there?"
Ghost took off his mask. His face went from cold and emotionless to warmhearted the instant he cracked a faint smile. "I was there waiting to strike since Bruce was fighting Clayface and Mr. Zsasz."
"WHAT! You could have prevented Bruce from taking such a beating!" Diana violently pointed towards Bruce on the medical table as she glared at Colby. His face instantly went back to the cold emotionless glare as the rest of the group took a step back from the two. The tension in the room just escalated to dangerous levels. Diana clenched her fists wanting to badly bash Colby's head in. "You both could have taken on Ares and Circe! What the hell were you waiting for? Bruce needed your help!"
Colby continued to glare at Diana as he spoke in an unemotional flat tone. "And here I was told that you knew Bruce better than anyone. Everyone gives you more credit than you deserve." Everyone's eyes widened as their jaws dropped in shock. If anything was going to set Diana off, that was it. Anger boiled through her veins as she was about to go and break him in half. Colby crossed his arms over his chest, unfazed by Diana's obvious anger "Nightwing just told you why I didn't engage them until I did." The words stopped Diana in her tracks as she realized that he was right.
Diana's anger quickly faded away as confusion took over her brain. "What does he mean? Did Bruce plan it this way?" She took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure before thinking logically. "No one knew you were there..." Diana took Colby's irresponsiveness to her obvious observation as a sign of him indicating to her that she was on the right path. "Except Bruce…" Again, no reaction. "But how did he know you were there? Bruce said even he can't detect your presence… unless you made him aware that you were there."
"Bruce and I know how each other work, making verbal communication unnecessary." Colby stated flatly.
Trying to think like Bruce, Diana continued to reason out what exactly happened at the courtyard. "He somehow told you to sit back and wait for the perfect time to strike. But when did he know you were there?"
"Right before Nightwing and Robin were resurrected." Colby said as things began to become clearer for Diana.
"You needed the bow and arrows… so you waited to get them before making your move to strike." Diana looked at Colby as he didn't stop her from continuing to think out loud. "…He wanted to be absolutely sure that your attack would take them down. Wait until Ares was completely focused on Bruce and not his surroundings. That gave you the perfect opportunity to attack him."
"He is still a God, Wonder Woman… Taking him head on would be foolish, I know my limits." Colby was starting to be impressed by Diana's intuition as the tension between them steadily dropped.
Diana smiled "I told you before to call me Diana." It still amazed her that Bruce could think of all of this in such a little amount of time while engaged in a fight for his life, and be able to communicate it to Colby without saying a word or expose his presence. Diana placed her hands on her hips as she raised her eyebrow. "So how long does it take to learn how to develop this nonverbal communication and to have Bruce be unaware of your presence?"
Colby smirked. "Become Bruce's equal first… then we'll talk."
"I'm a quick learner, that shouldn't take too long." Diana smiled at the thought of being better than Bruce. Then an idea popped into her head. "Hey, why don't you join The Justice League? I know you would easily make it in with all of our recommendations."
Colby shook his head. "No thanks, I rather do things my way… I'm not much of a people person."
Diana laughed. "Says the guy who just took orders from Batman. You don't look like much of a loner to me… especially with that beautiful magician by your side." She tilted her head towards Zatanna.
"HEY! We want our details!" Barbra pushed Dick aside as she rolled right up to Zatanna with a grin on her face.
"Yea Colby… how did you sweep Zee off her feet?" Dinah grinned knowing that he hated being put on the spot.
Colby glared at Dinah before putting his mask back on and headed towards the training area. Cassandra quickly jumped off the computer console to go train with him. She never passes up an opportunity to train, especially to train with the best in the world. All the girls smirked at each other as they watched Ghost walk away.
"Well… at least that part of him hasn't changed." Dinah shook her head smiling. "I hate that mask of his… he's never any fun when it's on."
"Train, eat, train some more, sleep, train some more… then go to work. That's practically all he does when he's not with me." Zatanna winked at Dinah with a smirk on her face.
"Mistress Diana, Master Bruce will be just fine." Everyone quickly snapped their heads in Alfred's direction in relief. "The injuries are severe but not anything I believe he cannot overcome. He will require a lengthy rest… which I believe will require your area of expertise in convincing him to stay out of trouble." Alfred smirked as Diana smiled.
"Thank you Alfred. He's not going anywhere… not under my watch." Diana gently picked up Bruce and headed up to the mansion.
Diana gently placed Bruce on the bed as she watched him, looking at his beaten and battered body. It had been a while since Bruce was beaten so badly. All of her horribly painful memories of him coming home inches away from death poured back into her head. She wiped away the tears that were trickling down her face as she watched the man she loved more than anything struggling just to breathe. She quickly changed into her nightgown and carefully slid underneath the covers, lying as close to Bruce as possible while making sure not to aggravate his discomfort any further. Lying on her side with her head resting on her pillow, Diana faced him as her hand carefully reached over and held his. As his grip tightened, tears of joy and sorrow continued to flow down her face. His grip told her that he was going to be alright, but that didn't stop the deep pain within her heart knowing that he was in his current condition because of her.
"Princess…" Bruce said weakly between coughs. He tried to move his head to look at Diana, but didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.
Diana squeezed Bruce's hand, matching his grip. "I'm so sorry Bruce… it's all my fault…"
"You can't… get rid of me… that easily…" Bruce smiled as he held back the pain he felt from speaking.
"Bruce… I… I've put you through an unimaginable amount of pain and suffering… I…" Diana's emotions were getting the best of her, she couldn't finish before Bruce started speaking again.
"No… you… you have no reason to be sorry… You saved me… saved me from myself… Don't ever tell yourself any different… You're worth it… we are worth it… wouldn't trade us for anything… I need you… I love you too damn much." The pain was becoming too much to allow Bruce to speak and breathe at the same time.
The pain in Diana's heart quickly subsided when Bruce's words reached her ears. Diana couldn't help but smile back after hearing him say those words, reminding her of the special bond they both shared. "You're my whole world too Bruce." Diana gently kissed him as she carefully cuddled up to Bruce, holding him in her arms.
The rest of the batclan gathered around the backup computer, filling each other in on what happened in the last few days. Dick looked at the others before stopping at Tim with a smirk. "You know… I never thought that we'd have to take care of the old man again."
"Us take care of him?" Tim smirked back as he spoke in a sarcastic tone. "He would rather die than have us take care of him." Everyone laughed at just how close to the truth it really was.
Donna couldn't help but grin. "That shouldn't be too hard… especially since it's my sister's job to take care of him."
"If there's anyone more stubborn than Bruce, it's got to be Diana." Zatanna twirled her cane as she looked back at steps leading up to the mansion.
"Yea Dick, I'm pretty sure she can take care of him better than all of us combined." Helena elbowed Dinah in the arm with a smirk as the bat-signal alerting system suddenly went off in the cave.
Dick stared at the screen before turning to the batclan. "Time to go back to work."
Dinah scratched her head while raising an eyebrow. "What? But Bruce just beat the crap out of everyone. There's no one left to fight."
"There's always someone left to fight." Barbra began working on the computer as she put her headset on. "Crime never takes a break, and neither will we." The batclan made their way back out into the darkened night of Gotham to stop whatever and whoever awaited them this time.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. I was watching the movie Ocean's Eleven before I wrote the last few chapters and it kind of inspired me to write out the action scenes and then explain Batman's plan afterwards. Hopefully it came out well. Let me know what you think. I should have the epilogue up soon.
I've also been inspired by The Dark Knight Rises trilogy to make a third book to complete my story too. I have a pretty good idea on how I would like my trilogy to end, and should have a little teaser summary for you guys when I post the epilogue for this book. I can tell you now that it will definitely push Batman's powers to the extreme!