It had been three weeks since Diana and Bruce had gotten together for breakfast. When Batman returned to the cave he had his time consumed by a rather strange uptick in violence on the streets. It was something that troubled him due to the fact that most of the known heavy hitters were locked up. Of course Joker was still on the loose, but the type of activity taking place didn't follow along his typical M.O. The only similarity was that there was no pattern to follow, but even then if it were the Joker that was behind it, he'd have made it known that he was the puppeteer pulling the strings. Joker seemed to live to let Batman know that he was keeping his so called version of balance in Gotham. Whenever Batman attempted to clean up the city, Joker was always there waiting to bring it back towards chaos.

This particular crime spree had taken much of Batman's time away from anything else. He wasn't even afforded sleep the last few nights. Patrol was forced to extend until sunrise and Wayne Enterprises then came calling swiftly. The lawsuit was coming to a close, but Bruce had to keep his guard up. He couldn't allow anything to slip through the cracks when the end was so close. Batman had been able to supply documentation which indicted the "victims" of circumstance as knowingly being involved in an attempt to push a project with faulty equipment that if used would be potentially deadly. There would have been government sanctions to follow swiftly if not for the few men that were bought off. While the tracks were covered well to protect Luthor from being discovered as the money behind the tactics, there was still enough evidence to turn the tide of the case in Bruce's favor.

Bruce was starting to run low on energy to the point that coffee was beginning to not have an effect on him. He had actually almost dozed off during the League staff meeting. If it weren't for the lenses in his cowl, he'd have certainly been caught by everyone. Diana had been the only one to notice it, and she didn't seem too pleased. She pulled Batman aside promptly after the meeting scolding him. She had a point in that Batman got the schedule changed so that meetings weren't as frequent, and felt he wasn't giving them the proper amount of attention. She threatened to point it out if he dozed off again. He merely stood there in front of her silently until she lost her patience with him, turning and promptly storming off. Batman simply didn't have the energy to argue about how busy he'd become. He certainly wasn't going to ask for any help either. He thrived in his city based on fear, and if Meta humans like Diana were to begin patrolling in his city, then he would lose some of that power that he held over the criminal element. Why would they remain fearful when he was just a normal human? No, he had to handle the city himself. Eventually he would discover the reasoning behind the increased violence and promptly put a stop to it.

Finally tonight seemed to be slowing down, and for the first time in weeks it gave him an opportunity to think things over. He did feel as though he needed to reach out to Diana though as Bruce. He was sure that she had been anxiously awaiting a response from Bruce, and three weeks was a lot to ask of someone to wait without a word. Perched on top of Wayne tower, he decided he should do something about that to rectify the situation. He entered the tower with his special access from the roof that led him into Bruce Wayne's office. He opened up the computer on his gauntlet and performed a search for Diana's position. She was currently not located on the Watchtower. Good, he thought to himself. He could leave a quick message apologizing for taking so long and let her know that he'd not forgotten about her. If she actually knew the truth, then she'd already know that thinking about her took up more of his time than he would actually like to admit. Batman picked up the phone on Bruce's desk and dialed the secure line into Diana's quarters that she'd given to Bruce. Just as he expected, it went to voicemail. Bruce cleared his throat just as the tone beeped indicating it was recording his message. "Hello Diana, its Bruce." He started. He actually felt a little nervous for some reason, but he pushed himself on. "I know it's been a while since we've had a chance to talk, and I wanted to apologize and let you know that I haven't forgotten about getting together again. I still would like to as soon as possible. Things have been a little hectic at Wayne Industries, but I wanted to make sure you didn't think I'd forgotten about you. I'm hopeful that business here will slow down enough to allow some free time so that we can set something up. I'll call you again to set up a date hopefully soon. Catch you later Diana."

Batman hung up the phone and made his way back outside the tower. Hopefully Diana would be okay with that message and still be interested in meeting up with Wayne. He was about to call it a night when the police scanner chimed in his ear, indicating that a theft had been reported at the Gotham Museum. He groaned as he'd actually hoped to get a chance to head home early for some much needed rest. As Batman traveled towards the museum, he happened by chance to notice some movement in the night sky heading in the opposite direction. He promptly changed direction with a second grapple and landed on a nearby rooftop before jumping again to give chase. It wasn't long before Batman had caught up to the same rooftop as the mysterious figure. He threw a bola forward towards his target as he continued running forward. He watched as the bola was deftly dodged by a graceful movement. Undeterred he then lunged forward towards the assailant only to be met in the chin with a spinning back kick. It was a strong enough blow to make him stumble backwards for a moment. Batman looked around for the criminal, but they seemed to have disappeared. He knew they were still on the same rooftop though just based on the lack of noises he'd heard. Batman engaged his infrared vision and began looking around for human heat signatures. Before he spotted anyone, the same bola he'd thrown earlier came flying back at him and quickly wrapped around his body. He was able to maintain staying on his feet for a moment before the criminal he'd been chasing landed before him and used their finger against his forehead, pushing him just enough to end that balance causing him to fall backwards. "Hello handsome." He heard.

"Selina." Batman responded seething through his teeth. He worked on his escape at the same time with a batarang that had been in his hand the whole time. "What are you doing here in Gotham?"

Catwoman lowered herself straddling over his body for a moment as she leaned in very close to his face. She licked across his lips before answering. "I just came to see you again Batman. I missed having you chasing after me is all." She rubbed her hands over his chest plate as she caressed his cheek against her own.

Batman sneered in response. "What did you steal from the museum Selina?"

Catwoman placed a hand over her chest in mock exasperation. "Why would you think such a thing Batman?"

"Because I know you." He responded as he struggled underneath her to free himself from the bola. Selina slapped him across the face before climbing to her feet.

"A girl's got to eat Batman." She said as she walked towards the ledge of the roof. "It's nothing really. No one will ever miss it. See you soon handsome."

She jumped off the roof, and within moments she was gone. Batman squirmed and twisted until he managed to free his hand that held the batarang. He used it to cut through the bola lines eventually allowing him to escape. Batman began looking for any clues that would tell him where Selena had gone off to. Since she had moved out of Gotham a year ago, she'd be much harder to locate. So much for turning in early he thought to himself.

Batman spent the better part of an hour tracking before the trail went cold. He then made his way over to the museum where he discovered that Catwoman had stolen a Bastet Amulet. It was one of a set of five from Egypt. Each item was in the shape of a cat, and that was all the information he needed to confirm that it was indeed Catwoman that had been the thief. Batman worked with Commissioner Gordon until all evidence had been retrieved from the crime scene. He had hoped that some evidence would result in clues as to where Catwoman was hiding at the moment. She wouldn't be in town too long, especially if she wanted to keep the amulet. He would have to act quickly in order to catch her.

~~ Watchtower ~~

Diana was walking out of the Javelin Bay alongside Superman and Flash. They had just returned from a grueling five day mission off world. There was a civil war on a planet which had escalated to the point that one side went away from their world in search of more "volunteers" to join their cause. The three League members had originally went to the planet as an attempt to attain peace, but they quickly discovered the outside resources joining along on one side, while the others maintained as best they could without reaching out to outer worlds with their plan. Superman kept the recruits occupied while Diana and Flash searched for anything that would give the outsiders their free will back. From there, they discovered a hidden signal which affected all the outsiders that had joined into the fray. The signal led them to a mind wipe device which they discovered was used to turn the outsiders into mindless army drones that only followed orders. Once the device was destroyed and the signal ceased, everyone that had been affected began realizing where they were, and immediately started leaving to go back where they were collected from.

The three heroes all split up as they reached the wing where everyone's personal quarters were located. Superman was going to file the mission report quickly before heading home to Metropolis for the night. Flash went to his quarters to get cleaned up before grabbing himself an iced mocha and heading to the Monitor Womb for his scheduled monitor duty.

Diana made her way to her quarters. She thought about joining Flash for an iced mocha, but as she had monitor duty in the morning, she thought it best to skip out on the caffeine in order to have less trouble falling into a nice slumber. She instead was going to opt for a shower before heading to her bed. When she entered her personal quarters, she sat down at the edge of her bed where she unfastened and slid off her boots one at a time. When she went to stand up and make her way to her lavoratory she happened to glace at the wall controls where a red light was blinking at her. She'd never seen that before, and walked over to inspect the panel. Diana turned on the room lights so that she could better view and inspect the light. Above the red flashing bulb was a written inscription that said "Message". Diana pressed the button just below the light, and an automated voice came to life that informed her she had a new message from her personal line. She'd never had a message before. Her first thought was could it be Bruce. She hadn't heard a word from him in almost three weeks, and had begun to think he'd moved on and shown his playboy ways once again instead of letting the man she'd found inside him to be able to flourish. She pressed the button again, and listened to the message as Bruce's voice played. "Hello Diana, it's Bruce. I know it's been a while since we've had a chance to talk, and I wanted to apologize and let you know that I haven't forgotten about getting together again. I still would like to as soon as possible. Things have been a little hectic at Wayne Industries, but I wanted to make sure you didn't think I'd forgotten about you. . I'm hopeful that business here will slow down enough to allow some free time so that we can set something up. I'll call you again to set up a date hopefully soon. Catch you later Diana."

The automated voice indicated that she had missed Bruce's call by almost an hour. However at hearing the message, she began to smile. Bruce had remained the charming man that she had met at the charity. She once again eagerly wanted to find some time to get together with Bruce. Perhaps she could call him after her monitor duty ended the following afternoon. Bruce had given her the numbers to the manor as well as his personal line at Wayne Enterprises. She pondered whether or not to call him as she walked to her lavoratory where she turned on the water and removed her uniform before stepping into the steamy hot shower. Hearing the message from Bruce had lifted her spirits slightly and actually took her mind off the mission she'd previously been on. She enjoyed having something to take her mind off of the League for a change, and Bruce was providing that outlet for her. When she had first arrived on man's world, she would have scolded herself for even feeling this way about a man. Her mother and sisters on Themyscria certainly wouldn't approve if they were to know of this change in their princess. But things had begun to change for Diana. She could see with her own eyes that while men were far from peaceful, there were some that proved wrong the Amazon belief of all men being crude and coldhearted monsters that were only fit for breeding. Diana finished her shower and dried herself off while deep in thought about her teachings compared to what she had experienced herself. Eventually she waved it off as something that required further investigation, and she made her way over to her alter where she prayed and paid homage to her patron gods and goddesses before moving over and climbing into her bed for some earned rest.

~~ Wayne Enterprises, 2:30PM ~~

Bruce walked back into his office with a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders. The lawsuit had just been dropped as evidence provided by Batman proved there was no fault by the organization, but instead pointed towards the men that had begun the accusations. Now they were going up on charges for the illegal activity they had performed. Even in a crooked system that Gotham City still was run by, these few men wouldn't be able to escape the law. Only Luthor would manage to get away unscathed, but he was now front and center in Batman's mind. A trip to Metropolis would help Batman aid in some reconnaissance on Luthor. Bruce wondered to himself if he should just head over to that city or let Superman in on his intentions to further investigate one of Metropolis' own richest inhabitants. What the Boy Scout didn't know wouldn't hurt him. It wouldn't be like the last time where Batman had infiltrated the scum and "interrogated" them in his quest to locate the Joker. He just needed to dig up some dirt on Luthor, and that could be done discreetly. Superman didn't need to know. He would only want to join in and possibly ruin any stealth that Batman would have.

Bruce plopped down in his desk chair as his mind raced about how he needed to go about this investigation. He couldn't use the teleporters yet as he'd not had time in the last three weeks to use Flash as a guinea pig to test it out. At least during the last few weeks, Bruce had been able to construct the second platform within the cave. He did test the tracking portion out using an inanimate object, which was successfully transported to the cave and there was no reading for tracing where the object had been sent. Next was a live test subject, where Flash would come in to play. Bruce was brought out of his reverie by his personal desk phone ringing. The caller ID didn't reveal the number to be from inside the Wayne Tower, so his curiosity was piqued as to who it could be. Normally personal calls went through his secretary. He picked up the phone and answered. "Bruce Wayne."

"Hello Bruce." The angelic voice stated. "It's Diana."

Bruce inadvertently smiled. "Diana!" He cheerily said. "So nice to hear from you. I hope you got my message."

"Yes I did Bruce." Diana responded. "Thank you for reaching out to me. That's actually why I called. I wanted to let you know that I'm still looking forward to getting together myself."

"Well Diana, I have some good news about that." Bruce said as he spun his chair around so that he could look out the window of his office. "We just had a law suit against the company dropped, and that should free up some time for me in the next couple of days."

"That's good to hear." Diana returned. "Have you had any chance to think about what we can do?"

"Actually I have Diana." Bruce answered. "I was thinking that you might enjoy a trip through the Gotham museum. It's got quite a bit of the city's history, and if I'm not mistaken there is also a Greek exhibit showing there this month. How does lunch and the museum sound on Tuesday?"

"It would have to be a late lunch." Diana responded. "Would 2:00 work for you Bruce?"

"I think I can work around that." Bruce answered. "Meet me at the base of Wayne Tower, and we can walk from there. The weather is supposed to be nice so a walk would be rather enjoyable I'd think."

"Sounds good Bruce." Diana said. "I'll see you on Tuesday then."

"Tuesday it is. Good Bye Diana." Bruce waited until Diana responded and ended the call before he hung up his phone. He leaned forward in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his chin as he looked out over his city. He was looking forward to meeting with Diana on the Tuesday of the following week. It gave him the time he needed to tie up some loose ends, and with a little luck, perhaps apprehend the Joker as well. He sat there looking out the windows until after 3:00 when he decided that he would return to the Manor. All the major work had been resolved from the fallout of the lawsuit and it was Friday. Most of the bigger decision makers were already making their way to a golf club or heading home by this point. It had been a good day for Wayne Enterprises after all.

~~ Batcave ~~

When Bruce arrived home, he quickly made his way to the Batcave entrance where he opened the secret entrance behind the grandfather clock and was instantly able to hear the sounds of Tim training as he descended the stairs. Unlike the last time, he also could hear another male grunting and fighting. When Bruce reached the training room, he watched as Tim was squaring off against Dick. In just three weeks Tim had surpassed what Alfred was able to teach. Bruce could already see how much Tim had improved his balance and footwork from when he'd begun training. Alfred was a strict instructor when it came to footwork and balance, which was part of the reason why Bruce wanted Tim to start off training there. Alfred had learned a long time ago about how being forced into a bad position could become fatal. He'd seen enough from injuries Bruce endured to know that a balanced man was much more able to defend himself and avoid unnecessary injury. Bruce had the scars to prove it as well if Tim ever needed a reminder.

Tim was handling himself quite well against Dick. Being smaller and not as strong, Tim was forced to rely on his basic training with Alfred and made to avoid taking on any unnecessary strikes from his new mentor. He was however running out of energy whereas Dick appeared as though he'd just been standing there the whole time. He was barely even sweating. When Dick noticed that Bruce was watching however, he became a little more aggressive in his approach, and began taking Tim down with regularity. Although Bruce could see it growing, Tim never let his frustration get the better of him. He also wasn't making the same mistake again. Bruce calculated that training with Dick each day, if there were no setbacks Tim would be ready to begin training with him after perhaps two to three more months. Then Tim would be challenged on his patience. Bruce wouldn't let Tim out in the field until he was sure that Tim would fare well on his own. But then Bruce wouldn't be letting Tim out to patrol without supervision for at least three or four years. He would not take any chances with this young man. He could already see the potential in this boy. He had a rare mind that almost literally absorbed everything as if it were a sponge. Bruce wanted to spend a good bit of time making sure Tim was deeply involved in forensics. Dick was well versed in detective work and forensics, but he still had things that he could learn or improve on. However Dick had become his own man and Bruce respected that. It actually made Bruce quite proud of Dick. In some ways Dick was actually a better man than Bruce. He was able to heal from tragedy much more effectively and that Bruce envied just a little bit.

Bruce left the boys to their training and dressed in the Batsuit before making his way over to the Batwing. He performed a preflight diagnostic and within minutes was jettisoning his way into space where he would be traveling to the Watchtower. He had one task in mind before he would be returning to Gotham for patrol and to search for the Joker.

~~ Teleporter room ~~

Diana and Superman watched as J'onn and Batman were putting in the final touches to the teleporters. "Batman to Flash." He called into the comm link.

"Yo Bats." Flash responded. "What's up?"

"I need your help with something." Batman answered. "What is your current location?"

"I'm in downtown Central City." Flash responded. "I can be anywhere in a couple minutes. Where do you want to meet up?"

"The Watchtower." Batman answered. "Maintain your position."

"I'll need a Javelin to pick me up then if you need….." Flash trailed off for a moment as he pondered where the conversation was going. "Why do I need to hold my…." Flash noticed the flashing of blinding lights around him for a moment before the lights dimmed to where he could see again. He was no longer in Central City but on the Watchtower before he ended his question "….position?"

"Teleporters are online." Batman stated before turning on his heel and exiting the Teleporter room.

"Is he crazy?" Flash asked loudly to anyone that would listen. "What the hell just happened?"

"Batman teleported you to the Watchtower." J'onn explained before checking some diagnostics. "I agree, the teleporters are now operational for use going forward. All readouts came back as normal."

"I could have been turned into a pile of mush!" Flash yelled. "Was he trying to kill me or something?"

"Batman doesn't kill." Superman stated before exiting the room.

"Still I should have known he was about to do that. He really freaked me out with that thing." Flash said looking for someone to take his side.

"Batman calculates everything fifty times over before he moves forward. Do you think he'd really try that out if he wasn't sure you'd be alright?" Diana asked.

"Maybe." Flash responded. "I get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much at all."

"Batman doesn't like anyone all that much. Even himself." J'onn responded before he continued checking all of the readouts.

Diana and Flash looked at each other after hearing J'onn's opinion before they both exited. Flash almost needed a new costume and Diana wanted to head to the training area for a good work out. She made her way down and attempted to enter training room three, but it was locked. That surprised her as most of the League members only utilized the first two training rooms. Diana input her override codes to unlock the doors, and when they opened she found out why it had been locked. Batman was inside training against a steady list of villains.