Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year. I'm glad that I got chapter three up in time for the holiday, so I hope that you all enjoy reading this! :)

Thank you Koko (I'm glad to hear that you like my stories, I did make this chapter a little longer. So I hope you enjoy, as always its good to hear from you. :D),

Serena Kenobi (Hi! Let me just say, I like your stories! :) When I saw that you reviewed, I was so happy. So thanks for that. Hopefully in this chapter I've kept everyone in character also.),

mbembet (Thanks for the thumbs up. It's always awesome to hear from you and to know that your reading. :) Your comments are always welcomed.),

1Superman4Me (haha you can say that. Alfred's gotten tired off Bruce god ragging his feet around and not doing anything, so Alfred has thus taken up the job of Cupid momentarily. It's terrific to read your reviews!),

Midnight1906 (I appreciate your reviews, especially now that i can understand, and you reading my stories. Hope you enjoy this chapter to!), and...

Ni Castle (yes, Supes with Batman underwear. :) as always thanks for your reviews, I can always count on you to question things if the need should arise, or read and review. Hope you enjoy!)

-Tigress2929

She takes one last sip of her wine and sets it on the small coffee table beside her. Gripping the armrests of her chair, she lifts herself up and takes a stand. No more trying to beat around the bush. Bruce invited her here for a reason and she has got to know why.

"Bruce, enough with the chit chat. Why am I here?" She places a hand on his arm in order to try and garner his full attention. His shoulders stiffen slightly, but eventually he turns around to face her. His eyes are dark and intense for a single moment, before returning to a calm and patient hue.

"I had you come here so that way we could talk." He replies evenly.

She allows for her hand to fall away, before backing up a few steps and assessing him. Biting her bottom lip, she nods her head partly in understanding and exasperation.

"Right. Just so that we could talk." She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him.

"Bruce, we haven't talked to each other in a little over four weeks. What happened to us "talking" during that point in time? Because I was waiting, hoping that you'd have the decency to at least show up sooner or later." She uncrosses her arms and plants her fists on her hips while taking a step closer.

"In fact, I tried to contact you but you refused to speak with me. I don't even know why I'm here! I should have just denied you like you have done with me so many times in the past." She ends lowly. He just watches her silently. He can sense that there is more meaning behind that last part of her statement, but he does not bother to broach it further. Instead he allows for her to finish whatever else she feels that she must say.

"What is going on with you Bruce? Have you suddenly become to coward to confront us, because the man I knew is in no way like that, or is it because you are just ashamed? Ashamed in your own inability to request help from those who happen to appraise you highly."

Guilt flickers over his features for a second before, he in turn, scowls at her. He downs the rest of his drink and slams it on the table. Striding up to her, he grips her by the forearms tightly.

"I'm no coward. I may be many things, but I'm not a coward. Would a coward face a man such as the Joker head on like I did? No! A coward would have high tailed it out of this city. Would a coward take the blame for the murder of Harvey Dent in order to keep his mission pure!? I don't think so." He growls. This conversation has escalated from being just polite to being a full out argument. She takes a deep breath and exhales through her nose.

"Alright then, perhaps not a coward but an idiot!" She begins to poke him in the chest as she says this. With every emphasized word a crack of lightning sounds in the background, scorching the sky with it's heat. She knows that she is most likely bruising him, yet he shows no outward expression of feeling even an ounce of that pain. He's a full out stoic.

"You knew that we could have helped you if you had asked but you still refused to do so and instead decided that it would be best to leave us in the dark. When we did find out, we just had to stand by and watch while you could have been killed. Do you know how much it hurt seeing you through the news footage while you tried to handle the chaos in Gotham all by yourself? That blasted Joker, Scarecrow and Bane! You may believe that not granting us the ability to assist you in your city is a sign of strength, but to me and everyone else, it is a sign of your stubbornness, your insecurity in your trust within us. Especially when it was something that life threatening and disastrous! If you won't trust us... the League... Me... Then how in the world are we suppose to trust you?" She steps even closer. A roll of thunder erupts outside, the noise is in tune with every step that she takes.

"Batman... you may not know it, but we have faith in you. You are not just a symbol to Gotham, but to the whole world, and even in some parts of the universe. I can understand that you like to work alone at most times. You are very protective of your city and in some cases that is good but in others, such as last month, it is infuriating. You could have contacted us at least. Informed us of the situation, or even had us on standby. Something would have been better than nothing!" She ends with a slight huff. He releases her and backs up a few inches.

"Why? So you all could come marching into this city with your fancy slogans and stunning abilities? No. This place does not need a hero like Superman or The Flash. They need a protector and I just so happen am that protector. That means I set the rules and all who dare to enter, or even wishes to come into my city must first abide by those rules."

"Bruce, this isn't a controversy about your rules. This is about knowing that I can count on you to call when things get really bad. I don't want to find out one day that you died because you were stupid enough to go up against something bigger than what you could handle, without help."

He closes his eyes for a brief moment and grits his teeth in frustration.

"Then you don't know me at all." His eyes flash with annoyance, at the same time that the wind howls out in anger. "I wanted you to come here so that I could..." He pauses for a moment. "So that I could apologize, not so that you could scold me, and seemingly downgrade my methods."

"By Hera Bruce it's about time that someone had the balls to do so." She growls back. Rain and hail begin to beat against the windows. Still, neither of them really registers the sound.

He was not expecting that reaction at all. Nor did he anticipate that use of wording in her response. He'd figured that she would be surprised at his want to apologize, and after a few words, everything would work out smoothly and they'd go back to being friends. But no, she wasn't backing down and letting him off the hook that easily. She wants him to fight for it.

This is not going to be easy. With thugs and criminals he could calculate outcomes and create strategies, but with an Amazon, all of that was virtually impossible to do. The mind and will power of a woman is a mystery man has yet to solve, and he isn't sure if even he could crack that in one night. Let alone... ever. Pursing his lips, he resorts to the last thing that he can do. It is something ever rarely done by him, but deep within he could find the decency to do it, for her.

"I'm sorry Diana. I'll agree with you on this... If I come across something I can't handle, I'll call you first..." He pauses. "and the League." He adds as if it were an afterthought. "But only under such dire circumstances."

"Dire situations like last month you mean?" She glares at him. "Right?" She asks once more with a firmer tone. He glares back at her in return. After a moments silence, he concedes to her request by giving a curt nod.

She releases a sigh and loosens her fists in a sign of acceptance. "Thank you Bruce, that's..." She hesitates. "All I ask of you."

She turns away. No, that isn't all that she had really wanted. She wanted more, but he was insistent on not allowing for that next step to happen. He made that clear months before. Diana never in her earlier years had thought that she'd fall for a man like Bruce Wayne, but here she was and the impossible had happened. Years ago she had meet the Dark Knight of Gotham and had been intrigued by him. Not soon after, she began to fall for him also. A few months after her encounter with Batman, she began to feel this magnetic pull to the man known as Bruce Wayne. In the end it just turned out to be that she had fallen for men who were one in the same.

Turning back to him, she once more speaks. "You have to promise me though."

"I won't." He replies after some thought.

"Why not?" She asks, once more becoming frustrated with him.

"Because I can't trust myself to keep that promise." He answers honestly. Still that is something that she does not want to hear coming from his mouth.

"Here we go again! The majority of all these problems seem to lie within the areas of trust. You know what? I've had enough tonight, I think nows a good time as any to leave. Tell Alfred that I'm sorry I couldn't stay for dinner, because I just couldn't trust myself to not hit you." She locks eyes with his for a moment and to late she realizes that it is a mistake to do so. They say ones eyes is the gateway into seeing your soul, and that's what Bruce managed to glimpse. So bright and intense, unwavering and strong, burning with a powerful fire.

His piercing green eyes probe into her own, searching for something else. Hoping to unveil the truth behind her reasons of being angry at him. He takes a deep breath as soon as he sees it. The slight hurt and yearning. His actions a month earlier had affected her deeply, and it greatly differed from how it did so to the other League members. All that hurt had been channeled into anger. Anger at him for what he had done, or in actuality what he didn't do. Anger for caring, and for not being cared for in return. Anger at him for not coming to see her in order to assure her of his safety. All of this he could clearly read in her eyes, but he couldn't very well ignite that topic. For if he did, he would only succeed in hurting her more in the end. She swiftly breaks eye contact with him and begins to back away.

He can't let her leave. He doesn't want to. Instead he wishes to hold her close and shield her from the pain, but in all actuality, he is the cause of that pain. If only... Only what? He doesn't know or perhaps... just doesn't wish to know.

A flash of lighting catches his eyes. Finally noticing the raging storm outside, he frowns to himself, but before he can stop her she proceeds to fly her way out of the living room and toward the manors front door.

Jerking the door wide open, a powerful gust of wind slams against her body. Leaves whirl around her face, as hail and rain begins to beat against her head and shoulders. Lightning cracks and thunder roars out in anger as she tries to walk out into the midst of the storm.

A warm broad hand reaches out and grabs her by the wrist, trying to stop her. The storm seems to calm for a single moment as he speaks, as if curious to know how he'll try and persuade her to not go flying head first into this wicked weather.

"Diana! You can't leave in this storm." He roars out, for the wind begins to once more howl out in agony.

She pauses and looks up at the sky, debating on whether or not she should take the risk. It is filled with dark, black raging clouds. Flashes of electricity crackle throughout their centers, charging them with their fury and wrath. She would be an easy target out there in the open air. It would not bode well for her to take the chance. His voice once more sounds in her ears.

"You can use the transporter. Just... don't fly, you'll only succeed in getting caught within the thick of it all." Just as he is saying this, a loud moaning sound begins to emanate from their right. Whipping their heads around, they watch as a large tree begins to sway harshly, its branches jerking from the left and the right, before it begins to lean more towards the ground. Cracking sounds snap through the air, as its roots are pulled up from the ground mercilessly. With a loud boom, the oak tree falls to its abrupt doom.

She nods her head in agreement with Bruce and allows for him to drag her back inside. They both close the door, happy to not have it crack in half from the force exerted on both sides of its wooden frame.

Pulling leaves out of her hair, she begins her quick descent to the Batcave. Bruce is not too far behind, debating to himself on whether or not he should try his luck in persuading her to not leave at all. What he doesn't yet know is that the choice has already been made for her to stay. Because in that very same moment, the lights begin to flicker slightly, before the Manof completely grows dark.

"The electricity is out." He informs her. She just glares at him in response.

"Now I'm trapped in here with a rich man who has issues... lots of issues." She mumbles to herself. Oh why did the fates choose to test her this day?

So what do you guys think? Was everything done alright in this chapter? I don't know what it is about that line at the end, but I always tend to use it one time or another. :) Happy holidays, if you wish to leave a gift (review) feel free to do so. :D plus, it'll be my B-Day soon!