Diana watched as Batman went through the gamut of villains he'd programmed into his simulation. He was doing rather well, but Diana could see that Batman's moves weren't as crisp and precise as he normally always was. After a few minutes, Batman was becoming increasingly sloppy in his technique and was moving much more slowly. Diana tried to take note of if there were any changes in his movements. Perhaps he was working on a new fighting technique, but she quickly threw that possibility out after Batman was knocked onto his backside. That was surprising in of itself, but she was flabbergasted by his next move as three of the simulated villains surrounded him and he called out to the computer to end the simulation.

Batman had looked up after ending the session to notice that Diana was there watching him. He quickly stood to his feet and walked over to the control panel where he began entering data about the villains he'd faced. He hoped that Diana would think that he was simply testing out some things with the simulations, but she knew better. He tried ignoring her, but she was making it impossible as she walked straight up to him. He tried focusing on the control panel ahead of him, but it was no use. Not even a batglare would be able to save him from Diana. "Is everything alright Batman?" She asked point blankly towards him.

"Fine." Was his response.

"It didn't look fine from my perspective." She retorted. "Are you injured? If so you need to rest. You are no good to the League or your city in your current state."

"I said I'm fine." He fired back as he looked up into Diana's blue eyes. "Once Joker is back in Arkham I can rest and be back to normal."

Diana was about to reply again, but Batman quickly walked passed her and out the door. For a moment she thought about following after him, but she already knew that would only be a lost cause. Even still she knew that she was right, and she would see to it that Batman at least was checked out in the medical bay before he left the Watchtower. Batman walked swiftly towards the transporter room. He knew that Diana was the most persistent person he'd ever come across, and if she wanted to track him down he would only have a few moments to attempt escaping her. He couldn't head to the Javelin bay where the Batwing was waiting because just as she'd done last time she pursued him, she would attempt to force her ways onto him. The transporter room was his only hope of escaping without being stopped. Batman only slowed his pace so that he could make certain that she continued following him towards the transporters.

As Diana walked through the hallways, she finally started gaining ground on Batman. She knew that she would have to be quick in order to catch him before the Batwing was able to take off. She quickened her pace and quickly began to gain ground on Batman only to notice him walking passed the Javelin Bay entrance. Where is he going she wondered? Then his likely destination came to her, the transporters. He'd successfully tested it using Flash, and having done that he was most likely going to use it for a quick escape to evade her. Damn mortal man. What was he thinking trying to hide away what had obviously happened to hinder him? She was only looking out for his and the League's benefit. Sure enough she saw him enter the transporter room. She took flight in hopes of quickly catching him.

Batman caught a glimpse of the fast approaching Amazon as he entered the doorway to the transporter room. He'd only have a few precious seconds to get away before she caught him. Fortunately for him, he'd encoded the programming into his Batsuit's computer metrics system, and could prompt a code for transport remotely. This made it so that he could step onto the teleportation pad and only had to press the engage button on the teleporter terminal in order to activate it. Batman pressed the necessary button and stepped onto the pad. He turned around to face the doorway, and just as Diana came in, she was able to see Batman's body consumed in a flash of light before it disappeared from her view. How was he able to escape so quickly? You had to take care of where the selection would be to avoid being placed somewhere potentially life threatening. Knowing Batman however, he most likely had some standard settings saved where he could select one of them to escape quickly. Diana groaned in frustration from the way that stubborn man could get under her skin. She made a quick telepathic link to speak with J'onn. She would track him down and force him to come back to the Medical Bay for observation. J'onn, how do you trace the last location input into the transporter?

There should be a read out scan on the main screen.J'onn answered. Select the recall icon from the main screen and it will pull up a log of transportations taken. Why do you ask?

Batman is injured and is evading me in order to avoid seeking medical treatment.She answered. I'm going to bring him back onto the Watchtower to have him checked out.

But according to the Monitor Womb readouts, Batman is still onboard.J'onn responded.

How? I just saw him transport away. Where is he located?She asked.

The Javelin Bay prepping for departure. J'onn answered.

Diana wasted no time communicating with J'onn. She took flight immediately and soared to the Javelin Bay, but was only there quickly enough to receive a salute from the cockpit of the Batwing as he jettisoned forward towards the dock where he would be gone in seconds. Two times he had been able to evade her, and she knew she had lost him at this point. Batman would make it next to impossible to find him. A man who made a career out of living in the shadows would not be found unless he wanted to be, and it didn't matter if the hunter were a meta human or not. Diana clenched her fists and stormed back out into the hallways vowing to herself that she would not let this mere mortal evade her again while cursing about males in a mumbled voice.

Batman smirked as he flew out of the Watchtower. His plan of escape allowed him to evade Diana's pursuit. He had no time to deal with being looked over when he knew that he wasn't injured in the least. He knew that his body required some rest, but rest would have to wait until the Joker was back behind bars. Besides, like it or not Nightwing and Batgirl were back on the streets patrolling every few nights, and it would only be a matter of time before the clown slipped up.

~~ Patrol Monday night ~~

Batman crouched down on top of one of his favorite gargoyles. It was raining profusely and drops of water were dripping off the tip of the nose of his cowl. His suit was built in to keep his body temperature regulated for instances such as a rain filled and cold night. Nightwing and Batgirl had tracked down a couple of Joker's old goons, and they were following the thugs in hopes of finding Joker while Batman focused on all the other tasks around him. The weekend had been filled with crimes where he was actually glad to have Nightwing and Batgirl helping with patrol. Even with their help though, sleep was next to impossible to get. Batman had to make the rare appearance during daylight the previous two mornings as he'd stopped a total of twenty-three attempted muggings, seven rapes, two kidnappings, three store robberies, and a bank robbery as well. All three vigilantes were exhausted come Sunday night, and Batman had taken that night on by himself to allow the other two some rest. The rain seemed to stem the amount of criminal activity on this night though, and Batman was actually thankful of that. He was getting ready to travel over to the clock tower to meet up with Batgirl and Nightwing when his attention was grabbed by the sound of laughter down below. Batman looked down on a man stumbling along the sidewalk and into an alley laughing hysterically. He watched as the man eventually fell to his knees in a fit of laughter, and that was when he knew that this man had been poisoned by Joker venom.

Batman swung down from the rooftop and landed in front of the man. He wanted answers and he was going to get them. With one hand Batman latched onto the man's throat and picked him up before slamming him into a wall. The man only laughed harder at this happening. Batman pulled out a syringe and readied to stick it into the man's neck. "Where's the Joker?" Batman demanded. "You've only got a few minutes left before the venom kills you Ricky. Tell me or I'll leave you like this."

Ricky raised his hand pointing over to a building across the street while he tried and failed to say "over there". Batman glanced where Ricky had pointed over to, and once satisfied, he injected the serum into Ricky's neck. A few small laughs later and Ricky was unconscious. Batman dropped his unconscious informant and made his way over across the street. Sure enough there was a door to the back of an old apartment building that had been forcibly opened. Batman engaged his infrared vision to view for any signs of life inside the building before he entered slowly. There was a heat signature at the other end of the building and Batman crept up ever so slowly to that area. The heat signature was in a single room behind what was likely a standard guest room door. He pulled out a fiber optic cable and slid it under the door for a better view. When the screen on his gauntlet lit up, Batman could see that inside the room was indeed the Joker. He was sitting at a desk with his back facing the door. Batman then angled the camera so that he could inspect the door before he burst through it. Once he was satisfied that there was no booby trap, he stood and put away the fiber optic cable. He readied himself for a moment and then raised a leg before thrusting it forward into the room door.

Batman's kick caused the door to shatter open. This noise obviously got the Joker's attention. "What the….how the hell did you find me Bats?" Joker asked in surprise. He tried to stand from his chair, but Batman was too fast, and quickly kicked Joker's legs out from under him.

"You shouldn't poison members of your crew so close to your hideout Joker." Batman practically seethed as he locked Joker's hands into plasticuffs.

"Crew?" Joker asked as Batman dragged him up to his feet. "You already arrested my crew weeks ago. How did you find me? Somehow come up with a sixth sense Batsy?"

"That's enough talk from you." Batman stated as he connected with a sharp elbow to Joker that knocked the man unconscious. Batman then dragged the Joker along and deposited him in front of the Gotham police headquarters. He flew up to the top of the building and waited for Commissioner Gordon. It took some time but the Commissioner did eventually make it up to the rooftop.

"Thank you Batman." Jim said before he saw his masked friend. "I don't know how you were able to find him, but I'm glad you did before he was able to cause any real trouble."

"He was sloppy this time Jim." Batman explained. "More so than normal. I'm not so sure that he wasn't set up by someone. Even so with someone like the Joker, I couldn't let him remain free."

"That's certainly true." Jim replied. "Any ideas on who the rat is that gave the Joker up?"

"None yet, but I'm looking into it." Batman answered. "Whoever it is, if they are brave enough to cross someone like the Joker, then we need to know more about them and their agenda."

"Fair enough." Jim responded. "So, first Wonder Woman, and now Nightwing and Batgirl have seemed to return to our rooftops. It looks like my guess on your expansion on your team was accurate."

"Wonder Woman was only temporary Jim." Batman quickly retorted. "Batgirl and Nightwing too. I needed them to help track down the Joker. Wonder Woman seems to be curious about me, and I imagine she sought you out to see what you knew about me. Once that curiosity fades, she'll not be around here again."

Gordon began to pace a little bit as Batman watched. "Your right Batman. She is curious about you, and did ask me to describe what I knew of you. I think she is a genuinely good person Batman, and good…." He realized that Batman had slipped away. "…for you." He finished.

~~ Batcave, 3:35AM ~~

All members of the Batclan had returned to the cave. Each one was relieved that the Joker was back inside the walls of Arkham Asylum once again. The weather had helped slow things down enough to allow everyone to end patrol early, and Batman would get some much needed rest. Thirteen days with only an occasional ten minute power nap here or there simply wasn't enough. Bruce even skipped a shower after patrol in order to head towards the master bedroom a few minutes earlier. As soon as Bruce's head hit the pillow, his eyes were shut. Not even the nightmare that would inevitably haunt him awake could interfere with his overwhelming need for sleep.

Dick and Barbara were still in the cave when Alfred was making his way down the stairs. "Has Master Bruce already retired for the evening?" He asked.

"Yeah." Dick answered. "Joker's in custody now so hopefully things will settle back down for a while."

"Thank heavens." Alfred responded with a relieved sigh. "I was beginning to believe I'd have to lace Master Bruce's coffee with sedatives to get the poor lad to sleep. He's never neglected his rest like this before."

"Things have been crazy for some reason lately Alfred." Barbara explained. "Even the low time scum has been nonstop lately. Even with our help Bruce had to stay out later and later it seemed. Thankfully the weather helped give us some time to catch up on rest."

"Indeed Miss Barbara." Alfred responded. "I can only hope that tonight brings about a change to a more normal evening going forward."

Bruce woke up quickly; covered in sweat and trying to catch his breath. His eyes darted back and forth for a few moments before he started to settle in from the nightmare that came to him in an almost nightly fashion. After catching his breath, Bruce looked around the sun filled bedroom and realized that it was late morning. Alfred hadn't come in to wake him so that must have meant that his surrogate father had taken the liberties of canceling any morning meetings at Wayne Enterprises. Bruce climbed out of bed and stretched to loosen his tight muscles. He headed to the restroom and turned on the water to the shower before slipping out of his boxer briefs and tank top. Checking to see if the water was the right temperature, Bruce finally stepped in and let the hot water pelt against his skin. He could almost feel the tension washing away from his body as the water trickled down. Bruce opened his eyes and looked over towards a clock that hung on a wall in the restroom, and that was when he realized that it wasn't morning at all, but early afternoon. He would have to hurry in order to meet Diana on time. He quickly washed and rinsed himself off before turning off the water and stepping out of the shower. Bruce quickly shaved before drying himself off and exiting back into the bedroom. Alfred had apparently come up to wake him as he found that his bed was already made and a set of clothes were laid out for him. Bruce quickly slipped on the dark grey slacks and blue polo shirt. He gave himself a quick once over before slipping on his shoes and almost running out of the room and down the stairs. "Alfred!" Bruce hollered.

Alfred was at the door waiting for Bruce. "At the door Master Bruce." He answered. "I've taken the liberty of preparing the car for every need."

"Thank you Alfred." Bruce responded. "Let's go."

~~ Outside Wayne Tower, 1:53PM ~~

Diana performed a test run herself on the teleporter. With Batman and J'onn putting the equipment together she had little doubt that it wouldn't work properly. She teleported to a nearby alley where it was confirmed that no one was around, making it safe to teleport there without causing harm to anyone. Diana felt slightly queasy from the effects of being teleported, but all in all it was tolerable enough and much quicker. The League would be able to drastically cut down the response time for any trouble that needed their intervention in the future.

Diana had spent a while looking for something appropriate to wear to such an occasion. She'd researched settings such as other casual get togethers before on the web, and reached out to Shayera a time or two, but the Thanagarian didn't see much point in such settings. She wasn't really interested unless it was a jeans and tee shirt type of outing if there was no battle to join in. She originally had thought to wear just her normal Amazon chiton, but after researching some women's fashionmagazines, she opted instead for a simple yellow sun dress and sandals that strapped up just below her calves. She pulled her long raven hair up into a French twist and decided that she was ready to meet Bruce.

Diana stood in front of the Wayne Enterprises tower waiting for her companion to join her just as he'd requested. She only had to wait a couple of minutes until a car pulled up and stopped at the curb in front of her. The elderly man that Diana had met at Bruce's home stepped out from the driver seat of the 1949 Mercury Monarch and turned to her before he opened the back door. "Good afternoon Miss Diana. It is a pleasure to see you again."

Diana couldn't see through the tinted windows of the car, but she knew from seeing the man before her that Bruce was inside. "Hello Alfred." She replied to the kind gentleman. "It is good to see you again too."

Alfred pulled the back door open and Bruce stepped out into view. "Hello Diana. I'm sorry that I'm late." Bruce said as he held out a single white rose for her.

Diana stepped up to the flower and placed her hands around Bruce's as she gently pulled the rose along with his hand up to her nose to breathe in the scent. "Actually Bruce, you're on time." Diana offered. "I came a little early."

"Well I still should apologize for making you wait." Bruce responded with a smile. "Are you ready to see the sights of the city with me?"

Diana nodded to confirm that she was, and Bruce gestured to her the direction that would take them to the museum. They both walked side by side detailing all the events that had kept each of them tied up until this point in time. Diana and Bruce both laughed and enjoyed listening to the others stories as they made their way to the museum. She was happy that her appearance seemed to go as unnoticed as Wonder Woman by the other people that were around them. She was enjoying this moment just acting like a normal person instead of a super hero. In fact, Bruce was gaining more attention than she was. She didn't mind that in the least as she knew already that she was accompanying the media's proclaimed Prince of Gotham. Bruce had been labeled as royalty without actually being royalty at all. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to be able to avoid the unwanted attention, they quickened their pace until they entered the museum. Bruce had called in some favors in case something like this was to occur where he would have private access to the entire museum for the next two hours. The doors were closed behind Bruce and Diana as soon as they got inside.

Diana was pleasantly surprised that Bruce had taken such precautions to provide them with a little privacy. From what she had read up on being deemed as a celebrity, privacy was something that didn't come easily. She figured that Bruce had become well versed in what it took to gain a little bit of privacy. Bruce led her through the different exhibits and when Diana wasn't reading up on the available information, Bruce was filling her in on what he knew. Ignorant playboy fop certainly wasn't what Bruce seemed to be towards Diana. She was really beginning to consider that it was a mask he wore in public. She wondered why he would do such a thing, and when they had a moment alone she'd decided that she would ask him. For the time being, she went back to enjoying all of the artifacts and other pieces of history laid out within the museum. There was even a small section in the history of Gotham that pointed to the Waynes and how the family had lived in this city for multiple generations. Bruce became a little sullen in this area, but he didn't ask Diana to move on and instead waited patiently until she moved on to another area. She noticed the change in his demeanor, obviously chalking it up to his having experienced his parents' deaths. The change wasn't obvious, but she was able to notice Bruce's body stiffen up slightly and the smile disappeared.

Diana enjoyed learning about everything that the museum had to offer, and Bruce's demeanor returned to seemingly enjoying the moment once again, and that made her smile more as she wanted her new friend to enjoy himself as well. She knew from this moment on that speaking about his parents would have to be handled delicately if the subject were in need of being brought up. That wouldn't be too difficult a task as she wanted to learn more about the man himself rather, and there was certainly enough there to keep her satisfied for a time until they became closer friends. Perhaps in that time she would discover the best way to approach him about such a traumatic time in his life.

The two hours Bruce had obtained went by quickly, and soon they were informed that the museum needed to open back up to the public. This would allow the paparazzi to enter as well. Bruce pulled a cell phone from his pocket and called Alfred, who in turn pulled the Mercury Monarch around the back of the museum. Bruce and Diana slipped out and got into the back of the car without drawing attention to themselves, and Alfred was quick to pull away. Diana watched as Alfred drove the car through the city, and became curious when they were actually leaving it behind them. "Where are we going now Bruce?" She asked.

"It's a little surprise that Alfred and I thought of while we were planning for today." Bruce answered. "Don't worry Diana, I think that you'll enjoy this part as much, if not more than the museum. We're almost there."

Diana sat back and looked out the window at the vegetation that they were driving passed. It was a beautiful part of the world with all the trees and lush green grass. Eventually she noticed a large building coming up. In just a couple of minutes, Alfred was pulling into the small parking lot in front of the building where Alfred parked the car and climbed out. He opened the back door and Bruce slid out first before turning around and offering his hand to Diana. She accepted as she then climbed out of the car herself. Alfred then went to the back of the car and opened the trunk. He pulled out a basket and handed it to Bruce.

Bruce grabbed Diana by her hand and led her up to the building. There was a placard in the ground next to the sidewalk that led to the front doors of the building which Diana took a moment to read as they walked passed it. The sign read "The Thomas and Martha Wayne Home for the Children". Diana turned to look Bruce in the eyes with a look of questioning towards him. Bruce simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought you would like to have a little early dinner with some of Gotham's orphans and at risk children."

Diana smiled and wrapped her hands around the crook of Bruce's available arm. "You certainly are a surprising man Mr. Wayne." She said. "It sounds like a lovely idea."