Author's Note: Before I say anything else, I'm going to remeind everybody that I'm still looking for anyone open to beta reading every so often.

This one took a while to get started on, but that'll be a good thing in the end. See, the reason that it took so long in the first place is the cool ideas that I've been drafting out for future use. I've been working on two separate storylines that I've been planning to use, but I've just had a neat idea about how I could combine them into one really cool... Thing. I guess I shouldn't say too much until I've smoothed out some of the huge wrinkles, but suffice it to say that I'm excited. Anyway, let's see how far I can get with this chapter.

"How much longer do you need to stay at this?" Wonder Woman said, folding her arms over her chest. She and Batman were standing on top of one of the tallest buildings in Gotham city. She was lounging casually on one of the stone gargoyles that hung over the edge of the building. Batman, on the other hand, was astutely crouched on the next one over with a pair of binoculars pressed firmly against his eyes and an expression that was so intensely focused that it would have been difficult to distinguish from the gargoyle's. After two nights of near constant escape attempts, Diana had finally relented and and let Bruce don his batsuit again, under close supervision, as his arm still hadn't healed completely.

"I don't know." Batman said calmly. "They'll let something slip eventually." He tuned the frequency on his earpiece so that he could better hear the the transmissions from the bug that he'd placed in the warehouse below. "Patience. Rome wasn't built in a day, after all."

"I know." Wonder Woman said crossly. "I was there. This whole stakeout thing really isn't my bit, though. I still don't see why can't go down there and teach them a lesson right here and now."

"You can't deal with drug dealers that way." Batman pointed out, still not taking his eyes of off the warehouse. "Those guys are just low level distributors. We knock them out, the bosses come back with a new wave of dealers. We need to cut the problem off at the source."

"And I suppose you'll have an equally valid reason why we can't just go... 'Ask' them?"

"Interrogations performed by vigilantes in bat costumes and amazons with magic lassos tend to not hold up to well in court. It's a sad fact of life. We'll just have to wait until one of them lets it slip."

"Well they'd better let it slip quickly, or I'll slip it for them."

"You really have better places to be at two in the morning?"

"I think you know exactly where I'd rather be right now." She said coyly. "Don't pretend you weren't thinking the same thing."

"I think I've got something here." He focused in on the two thugs in the warehouse again.

"Of course you do." Wonder Woman rolled her eyes as she pressed a finger against her own earpiece. "The docks, tomorrow night. How original." She made to jump over the edge of the gargoyle, but Batman grabbed her wrist at the last second, holding her back.

"Not yet. If take them out now, their bosses'll get nervous and move the shipments. We can't afford to rattle the cages yet."

"All that, and we don't even get a fight?" She said, sounding slightly crestfallen. "You're letting them go?"

"Yes."

"It's not like you to let a criminal walk away unscathed. Are you feeling alright?"

"I don't mind, as long as they're walking away into my trap."

Wonder Woman groaned. "You mean we have to do this again tomorrow?"

"No. I'll tip Commissioner Gordon off and let the police handle them."

"See, that's not like you either. You're usually too stubborn to let anybody else take over your operations." She said, sounding concerned. "Are you sure that you're ok?"

"I'm fine. I have other things to take care of."

"You're going after Strange." She said, realization dawning on her. "Absolutely not. You're in no condition to take him on again. He nearly killed you last time!"

"To be honest, I don't think that you can stop me."

Wonder Woman sighed and leaned back against the edge of the building. "You're probably right. But you don't even have any leads to go on. How are you going to find him in the first place?"

I don't know. But I can't beat him if he's controlling the game and anticipating my every move."

"How about taking somebody else's advice for a change? He'd never be able to see that coming. Look. I'm not saying that you should run away from him. Just take a deep breath and wait-"

"Wait until he's laid out another trap for me? I don't think so. He's smart and patient. I can't keep letting him call the shots. It's about time I stepped up and set some traps of my own."

"An answer for everything..." Diana muttered under her breath. She could tell that he'd already made up his mind, and that it would be useless to argue the point any further. "Fine, Bruce, have it your way. But just remember, you don't have to do this alone. You've got the whole League behind you."

"I'll keep that in mind. Let's go." Batman abruptly jumped from the gargoyle, launching his grapple at another building in the distance, gracefully swooping away. Diana quickly jumped to her feet and dived after him.

"You know, you can be a real piece of work."

"I like to think that it's part of my charm."

When they'd returned to the Batcave, Diana was the first to finish changing. She groggily made her way to the bedroom, only to find that Alfred was already inside dusting.

"Terribly sorry, Miss. I'm afraid that I wasn't expecting the two of you back so early." He said, stowing his feather duster and bowing slightly.

"This is early?" Diana asked incredulously. "No wonder he's always in a bad mood."

"Quite right. I'll be going, then. I'd imagine that you'll be needing your rest."

"Actually, Alfred I'd like a word with you. About Bruce. Seeing how you've known him longest, I figured you would be the best person to ask."

Alfred sighed heavily. "True, I have known Master Bruce since his birth. Yet, the inner machinations of his mind remain a complete enigma, even to me Still, I shall do what I can to answer your questions."

Diana thought carefully for a moment, choosing her words. "Has he always been like this?"

"I'm afraid so. You see, both his greatest strength and his largest shortcomings stem from his resistance to change. All in all, it's what makes him who he is. Of course, such dedication and loyalty don't come without a heavy price, as I'm sure you and your comrades all realize."

"I'm worried about him, Alfred. I think that he might be biting of more than he can chew right now. Strange is a maniac. He's already nearly killed him once. I don't know if we'll be so lucky a second time around."

"While I understand your concerns, I feel that I should reassure you; with Master Bruce, luck has very little to do with anything. He'll do whatever he can to rule it out of the equation. I'm sure that he'll be fine. You know how he is when it comes to planning ahead. He wouldn't make his move until he was reasonably certain that he could come out on top." Alfred said in a firm, reassuring voice.

"But Alfred... What if this is the one person that he can't beat? What if this is the one person who's one step ahead of Bruce?"

"We mustn't think such things; I'm afraid that that would herald a very dark time for us all. But remember, Master Bruce is a capable man with many capable friends and allies to support him. I've never met Hugo Strange, but from what I've heard, I doubt that the same could be said for him."

"Thanks Alfred." Diana said, feeling genuinely reassured. "I didn't mean to bother you, I was just curious."

"Not at all, dear. I'm just glad to see a nice young woman taking an interest in Master Bruce's well-being." When she gave him a curious look he explained further: "Please forgive me for saying so, but Master Bruce has a history of... Erm... Bad judgement with women."

"Bad as in... ?"

"Burglars, crazed vigilantes, and the odd ecoterrorist. Suffice it to say, I think of him as a son and would entrust him with my life, but I would never, under any circumstances allow him to set me up on a blind date."

Diana laughed heartily. "I suppose that that's just the type of people that we meet in our line of work. Although, I have to say that that explains quite a bit about his policy about dating in the workplace."

"If I may offer one more bit of advice, Miss?"

"Go ahead, Alfred. You know you don't have to ask."

"Be direct. Not forceful, per se, but direct. As I'm sure you've noticed, Master Bruce has an unrivaled talent for deflecting conversation. All that you can do is be aware of it, and stay focused. But remember, he rarely takes well to force, and will not react well if he feels that he is being manipulated. But perseverence has its rewards."

"Thanks Alfred." She opened her mouth and let out a powerful yawn. "Now, I need to get some sleep. I still don't know how you can keep these hours on a regulars basis..."

Author's Note: Not my finest work, but a bit of banter every now and then won't hurt. I think that I'm all set up to get things on track for the finale, which should be coming within the next couple of weeks. A few more twists and turns, and we'll be all set. In other news, I've started drafting plotlines for another related project that I'll probably be starting as soon as I've finished this story. So once I get a little bit of tweaking out of the way, that should be good. Now... I have urgent business to take care of in Skyrim.

Edit: Made a mistake in the editing after the upload. So in lieu of the line that's there now, those of you who got here quickly enough saw my "INSERT BREAK HERE" note to myself that I wrote in all caps so that I wouldn't forget to fix it. D'oh.

JasonTDK: True, but you can hardly blame her for being a bit on the cranky side, right? Can you imagine a day of being Batman's handler? Not a job I'd want, I can tell you that much.