Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Justice League or any of the characters in it.

An itty-bitty author's note before we start: I really appreciate the reviews and constructive comments about the first chapter, so here is me expressing a BIG thank you to those of you out there who read and reviewed! I hope this second chapter won't disappoint anyone, especially those who are just itching to see good old Bats get a dose of his own medicine.

Oh, and here's a shout-out to my dear sister: This chapter's dedicated to you, hope you'll like it. Happy Birthday and good luck for your exams!

Now, on with the story…

Coffee is the Root of all Evil

A week or so after the coffee incident…

Batman's POV

Batman swept into the Watchtower cafeteria, though a careful observer might notice that his movements were lacking in his usual grace. His mouth parted to let out a yawn but thankfully, certain disaster was averted by clamping his jaws close tightly and decisively. The three consecutive sleepless nights due to the murder case he was currently working on was taking a toll on him, as much as he hated to admit it. It would definitely do his reputation no good if he were to slip up during patrol or League missions, or even worse, nod off during League meetings. It would definitely not help in solving the murder case any quicker either. Which was why he stopped by the cafeteria for some coffee after collecting a few files and supervising the training of several newer League members.

He filled the cup to the brim with the hot, brown liquid. Walking in the direction of the Monitor Womb, he took a swig from his cup. He grimaced. The haze of exhaustion fogging up his head didn't seem to clear. At all. Perhaps he needed a stronger dose of caffeine to keep him awake. And was it just him, or did the coffee taste a little… Off? He narrowed his eyes. However, any investigation of any sort would have to wait until after Monitor Duty. With a resigned sigh, Batman entered the Monitor Womb to relieve whoever was on duty, that is, whoever was unlucky enough to face him in his sleep and caffeine deprived state.

Flash's POV

Flash lounged on the swivel chair in the Monitor Womb, tapping a gloved finger on the table at an inhuman speed. His chin was propped on his left hand as he watched the numerous screens. He yawned. It wasn't that he hated Monitor Duty, really. Contrary to popular belief (or rather, what a certain Dark Knight would think), he did indeed understand why he needed to do Monitor Duty – ensure the missions were running smoothly, sound the alarm if they aren't, so on and so forth. But what did one expect when you ask the Fastest Man Alive to sit in a small room and do nothing but watch the happenings on numerous screens? He sighed. And here he was hoping that he had gotten on Batman's good side (by solving the coffee problem) and the Dark Knight might just cut him some slack. Apparently, the man was lacking in something called gratitude.

"Some appreciation, huh…" Flash huffed.

Just then, the door to the Monitor Womb hissed open and said pointy-eared vigilante trudged in, a cup of coffee in hand. Speak of the devil, Flash thought.

"Hey Bats! Never thought I'll be so happy to see you," Flash quipped as he swiveled around to face Batman.

The black-clad hero didn't reply, as expected, but instead shot him a withering stare.

Oblivious to Batman's ire, Flash continued, "You know, I could definitely use more field missions, instead of Monitor Duty and stuff like that. I mean, what does a man gotta do to get some action around here? It can seriously get— "

Flash was interrupted by a loud thump as Batman set his cup of coffee on the table with a tad bit more force than necessary. The liquid in the cup sloshed dangerously close to the edge. Flash glanced up to see the Dark Knight glaring at him.

"Two words, West. Get. Out."

Flash swallowed nervously, backing away slowly with his two hands high in the air in a placating manner.

"Okay…I'lljustbegoingnowbyeBats!" With that, he zoomed out of the Monitor Womb at record speed. Geez, what's up with Bats?

Wonder Woman's POV

Wonder Woman, better known as Diana to closer colleagues and friends, sat at one of the tables in the Watchtower cafeteria, sipping iced mocha. She had just returned from a particularly tiring intergalactic mission so she decided to just relax and indulge herself in her favourite drink. She wondered what sort of opinion a certain Dark Knight would have on her 'just relaxing'. Probably a disapproving stare or something that went along the lines of, "You should use your time more wisely, Princess." Diana felt her lips curving into a smile at the thought of him. Hera, the man could be so infuriating yet endearing at times. However, her train of thoughts was interrupted when the presence of the Flash announced itself in the form of a whoosh of air and the sound of his voice.

"Hey Wondy! Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Diana turned towards the Scarlet Speedster, who was hovering nervously by her table. Well, 'vibrating so quickly that only a blur of red and yellow can be seen' would have been a more accurate description.

"Hello Wally, is something wrong?" Diana asked, a slight frown of concern on her face.

"DoyouknowwhassupwithBats?" A rapid onslaught of words poured out of Flash's mouth, impossibly fast for anyone to understand.

Diana blinked, "Come again…? And slower this time."

Flash took in deep breath and repeated his question, "Do you know what's up with Bats?"

Diana felt a flash of worry run through her. Something wrong with Bruce? Was he injured? Ill? Why hadn't she picked that up?

"What happened? Is he injured or something?" Diana asked, anxiety lacing her words.

Flash shook his head, "Nonono, he's not. It's just that when he came to relieve me of Monitor Duty, he was unusually snappy, even for him."

At that, Diana raised an eyebrow. Knowing Flash, he must have done something to provoke Batman. Unconsciously, that thought must have been reflected on her face, for Flash shook his head vehemently.

"We-ell, maybe I may have, might have, could have said something that made him annoyed but usually he isn't this bad," Flash admitted, a slightly sheepish grin on his face.

"Who isn't that bad?" came Superman's voice suddenly as the Man of Steel settled himself into the seat opposite Diana, munching on a sandwich.

Diana offered him a faint smile in greeting, "Oh, we were just talking about how Batman seems unusually vexed. Or at least, Flash seems to think that way."

"Yeah. And he slammed down his cup of coffee as if it had just offended him or something. Geez…" Flash interjected.

Superman had a strange expression on his face, a cross between 'trying-hard-not-to-laugh', 'wow-really?' and 'secretly-pleased'.

"Uh, Supes? You okay?" Flash asked, feeling a little perplexed and freaked out by Superman's reaction.

Diana was also feeling a similar sense of confusion as she stared strangely at Superman. His reaction is… Unexpected, she thought.

It took Superman awhile to realise a question was directed at him, "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm… er…fine."

"Well, I guess I better check if Batman is alright," Diana rose from her seat as she took a last sip of her iced mocha, all the while sending concerned and puzzled looks in Superman's direction.

As she floated past the other Leaguers on her way out of the cafeteria, she heard Flash's voice call out, "Oh, by the way Di, Batman's in the Monitor Womb!"

She felt the other Leaguers' gazes on her and a spattering of murmurs and soft laughter broke out at Flash's statement. A few bolder ones even gave a few whistles and catcalls. She blushed slightly and hurried out of the cafeteria as quickly as possible. She was almost certain that rumours about her and the Dark Knight would be spreading among the Leaguers, at the very least by the next day. He—

Focus, Diana, she told herself.

Upon reaching the Monitor Womb, she entered swiftly, fully intending to use any means necessary to pry the answers as to his unusually aggravated behaviour from the stubborn man. However, the sight that greeted her was totally unexpected. Batman was sprawled out on the table in front of the numerous screens, his cowled head resting on his right arm, tilted to one side and soft snores emitted from his sleeping form. His mouth looks surprisingly soft when he's asleep, Diana mused. She groaned when she realised what she was thinking about and what her train of thoughts would eventually lead to. Shaking her head as if to clear her mind of such thoughts, she called out softly to the man collapsed on the table before her.

"Bruce."

Batman merely stirred but did not awake. Diana frowned. She had expected him to leap up and attempt an attack of some sort. Evidently, he must have been really exhausted. Diana debated as to whether she should try to rouse him again, or just leave him in this state, but she figured the consequences would be dire if someone else caught him in this position. Sighing, she gave him a firm nudge on his left shoulder. Batman moved his head groggily, blinking as he shifted himself into a sitting position.

Satisfied that he was awake, she asked, "Bruce, are you okay?"

He quickly snapped out of his daze and ground out, "I'm fine. And it's Batman while on the Watchtower."

Rolling her eyes at his expected answer, she teased, "I liked you better when you were asleep."

"It's not funny, Princess," Batman growled and made an angry, frustrated noise, burying his head in his gloved hands.

She gave him an innocent smile, but it quickly melted into one of concern when he gave a muffled groan. The atmosphere lost its sense of levity when the severity, not to mention bizarreness, of the situation hit her; Batman, of all people, falling asleep during Monitor Duty.

"Br-Batman, are you sure you're fine?"

The only indication of a reply was a tired moan. Diana's eyes widened. In all the years since she had known him, no matter how tired he was, he never showed it. Until now. Something was definitely wrong.

"The coffee didn't help…" he finally replied, his voice muffled by his gloved hands.

To say she was surprised was an understatement. For Batman, the solution to any form of tiredness was coffee. Either that or a good workout. Tired from a day of League missions? Coffee. Exhausted from a particularly hard case to crack? Coffee. And the list goes on.

There was a moment of silence before Batman growled again, this time with an undertone of realization and of course, extreme aggravation.

Batman's POV

"Decaf."

He mentally kicked himself from not realising sooner. It explained everything. The weird, "off" taste of the coffee (the aftertaste of which he could still taste in his mouth, as if mocking him). The fact that it had no effect on him whatsoever and that he could still fall asleep on Monitor Duty after drinking it. The fact that upon being roused from his sleep, he had this enormous splitting headache that threatened to cause his head to explode instead of a nice, clear and fresh mind. And who would dare to try out something like this and still hope to live? Who would have the incentive to take revenge on him through coffee, of all things?

"Kent," he lifted his head from his hands, ignoring the fact that the throbbing in his head grew worse and snarled, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"Superman?" Diana asked, bafflement evident in her voice but he had to admit he was surprised by what she said next.

"But he did seem oddly pleased when Flash told him it seemed as though the cup of coffee had offended you."

Batman narrowed his eyes at the mirth in her voice but let it slide because he was too tired to snap at her. Especially since he knew it wouldn't have any effect on the Princess. The only effect, perhaps, would be that mischievous grin of hers widening. Not that he would have minded— Focus. The main issue here is the Boy Scout. And how I'm gonna kill him when I find him, he thought darkly. He stood up immediately but as soon as he did so, the room swam around him and he noted, with some alarm, that he was wobbling rather unsteadily. Damn. Definitely a sign that he was not getting his proper does of caffeine.

Diana was by his side in a flash, grabbing at his shoulders with her hands to steady him, worry on her face.

As if she could read his mind, she said dryly, "You know, maybe it's not that you're not getting enough caffeine. The root of the problem is that you're not getting enough rest."

She does have a point, a traitorous voice whispered in his mind. Shut up, he thought. He realised he must have said the last part out loud, for the Princess was looking at him with a slightly hurt look. The lenses in his cowl widened. Oh crap. I did not just say that aloud. But apparently, he just did. He groaned. Could his day get any worse? He guessed not.

Just as he shrugged off Diana's arms and strode (or rather, staggered) towards the door of the Monitor Womb, a wave of exhaustion hit him and he promptly collapsed. He felt Diana's strong arms catch him before he passed out. Although, to his credit, he did have one last lucid thought before he went unconscious.

Kent is a dead man.

Well, well. Look's like Batman figured out that the whole thing was Superman's way of exacting revenge on him. And a pissed Batman, a happy League does not make. Well, this is the end of Chapter 2. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Remember to review too. =)