"You really shouldn't have." Diana said. "I don't need such a gift."

"I know, but I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your company Diana." Came the voice at the other end of the line.

"I have to know, how were you able to get the flowers up to the Watchtower and to my quarters without my noticing?" She asked.

"Well Di, a man such as myself isn't without the means to deliver flowers to a beautiful woman. Even if she is living in a space station." The man answered. "So when would you like to get together again?"

"I don't know for sure Bruce." Diana responded. "I did enjoy our last meeting, and would like to go out with you again. My schedule seems to be a little hectic at the moment. Plus, I was offered the opportunity to train with Batman earlier, and I'm considering that option very seriously."

"Why would you need to take up training from the Batman?" Bruce asked. "I thought you had years and years of training already, and he is just a normal man without super powers."

Diana was slightly taken aback from hearing Bruce's perception of Batman. "I can assure you that while Batman is indeed a non powered man, he is still a very skilled warrior." She said. "I hate to admit it, but he has taken me down on multiple occasions while sparring, and one can never learn enough about any topic. If I learn from Batman, I can become a better warrior for myself as well as my people. They would appreciate learning other fighting skills and tactics so that they could at the very least devise a proper way to defend themselves should the need ever arise."

"Fair enough I suppose." Bruce conceded. "Just don't let him take up too much of your free time. I already miss not having you around to talk to as it is."

"Don't worry Bruce." Diana said trying to put any lingering doubts to rest. "I'll find some time to come down and spend with you. I hope you have something as special as the first time to show me."

"I don't know how I could top visiting with the kids Di." Bruce teased. "I'll have to consult with Alfred. Perhaps he has some good ideas. Listen, I have a business call coming up in a couple of minutes so I'm going to have to go. I hope you enjoyed the roses. They're from a special breed."

"I do Bruce, and you have my word that I will call you soon with a possible date for you to plan out. Good night."

"Good night…." Bruce said before disconnecting the line from the Batcave computers. When he was sure the line had cleared he continued in a quiet voice. "…Princess."

Bruce sat back in his chair with his fingers steepled just in front of his face. What was he doing? Being with Diana as Bruce was challenging in of itself, and if she actually did take him up on his offer to train with her, there would certainly be more opportunities for her to discover his secret. Would she be upset if he didn't just come out and tell her? The obvious answer to that question was a resounding yes. She was a beacon of truth, and expected the truth from her allies in the very least. He couldn't give up his identity though, not even to her. It was his last line of defense against his enemies, and while Diana was far from being an enemy, she would become just another avenue of discovery for his enemies with that knowledge. She'd also allowed herself to be captured by the Joker once already. Could the clown find a form of torture that would be cruel and violent enough to make even the Champion of the Amazons talk? Bruce believed that given enough time, Joker would most likely be able to make anyone talk. His devious mind concocted things that no other person on this planet seemed to think of, let alone have the desire to follow through with those thoughts. Bruce would have to make certain that he maintained a distance from Diana so that he could protect his identity. Perhaps in time he would come to trust her enough to allow her knowledge of his secrets like the Batclan. She would be hurt by it, but given enough time, he believed that he could eventually earn her forgiveness.

Bruce could have saved this heartache for Diana if he would just stop seeing Diana as Bruce Wayne, but for some reason he couldn't understand, he just could not force himself to stop contacting her. Why had he delivered her flowers? He made sure to follow through the entire process of Bruce Wayne working connections and favors to get the flowers delivered. He certainly couldn't do it as Batman lest he give himself away. After a couple of days, he'd made the right connections, and the flowers were sent off along with the supplies that were occasionally delivered to the Watchtower. He made sure it was listed in the front of the inventory as a personal item for Wonder Woman. That ensured the package would be delivered to her room first and inspection would be minimal aside from a scan to validate that it wasn't something harmful or contraband. The question was still why did he even do it? He had no answer for that question.

Bruce was lucky that he'd managed to make it back to the Batcave before Diana used her personal line to call him. If it weren't for the teleporter he'd never have made it back to catch her call. Alfred wasn't aware of him heading to the Watchtower this evening, and would have likely had to lie to Diana after realizing that Bruce was nowhere to be found. Bruce sighed and leaned forward as he moved his thoughts to tonight and patrol. He pulled his cowl on and the transformation was back to being the Bat. Batman reached forward to the console and pressed a button opening a communicator line. "Batman to Nightwing."

"Nightwing here." Came the response.

"Where are you and Batgirl patrolling tonight?" Batman asked.

"Actually we're not going to be able to patrol Gotham tonight." Nightwing answered. "Bludhaven seems to be replicating the increase in violence that Gotham saw recently. I guess the Haven doesn't want to take a back seat to her sister city. Babs is going to help me out. Even with her help it's going to take weeks to get things calmed back down. If you're looking for company you could suit the kid up and take him around to show him the ropes."

"He's not ready yet." Batman fired back. "He hasn't even graduated from your training into mine."

"That's fighting Batman, not detective work or finding patterns." Dick argued. "You're better at that stuff than I am. Who else could Tim learn that from that would be better than you?"

"Not until he is finished with your training." Batman responded. "I'm not going to allow another young man to be out there until they're ready for everything."

"Bruce, Tim's not Jason." Dick almost pleaded. "And what happened to Jason isn't your fault."

"I allowed him to become Robin." Batman retorted. "And I won't allow Tim to take on that role until I believe he's ready. I won't risk it. Not again."

"Alright Bruce." Dick conceded. "I'm not going to push you about this now, but Tim will be ready sooner than you think. You need to prepare yourself for him going out too. Look, I'm going to head out for patrol. I'll let you know if anything big comes up. Nightwing out."

Batman sighed as he closed the channel from his end. Alfred appeared out of seemingly thin air beside him. How is it that this man could sneak up on him silently while a Meta like Superman or Wonder Woman couldn't get within a building before Batman would notice their presence? "Master Dick is correct sir." Alfred said as he set a tray carrying coffee down. "Master Tim is progressing along quite well, and it will not be long before he is ready to train with you sir. Are you ready for that?"

"I'll have to be Alfred." Bruce answered. "I've been watching the videos of his training sessions, and I know that he is progressing along quickly. I'm just afraid of him becoming another Jason. I don't want to have to face another failure like that. It's bad enough that I even let him begin training in the first place. What kind of a life am I offering a young bright man like Dick or Jason or Tim?"

"You are preparing them all for the world sir." Alfred answered. "Master Dick has turned into a fine young man that any father would be proud of. Master Jason was following that same path, but his destination was altered by his own anger and lack of discipline with someone as dangerous as the Joker. Master Tim is much more like Dick, except I believe he is better able to absorb material. Almost as though he has a photographic memory."

"I just don't know Alfred." Bruce said as he stood to his feet and began walking towards the Batmobile. "I hope that you're right." He said as he climbed into the car and powered it on as the hatch slid closed.

Alfred watched as the Batmobile motored away. "I hope so as well sir." He said before turning around to pick up the tray.

~~ Two days later ~~

The Justice League had been called in to help out with some rogue defense robots that had malfunctioned during a lightning storm. These robots were the size of a small building, and they could maneuver by sea, land or air. Their design called for self preservation when in combat mode, and the lightning strikes had fried their circuitry to the point of labeling all civilians as combatants and only the self preservation rule was enabled. Any time a person approached one of the robots, they all would attack and destroy any neighboring buildings before moving to another location. There were two hundred of these robots running rampant through and around the small village of Hobo Barik in Afghanistan. The rain from the lightning storm was preventing the innocent victims from escaping as well due to the mudslides that were occurring around the village.

Superman was the first to respond, but due to the number of robots, he requested backup in order to minimize the number of casualties. Wonder Woman, Flash, and Batman had joined as Hawkgirl and Green Lantern were off world on another mission. Batman found a rooftop that would give him optimal viewing of the area while Flash and Wonder Woman joined Superman in taking down the robots. As Batman surveyed the field, he watched over the robots searching for some form of weakness to exploit. The outer casings were hardened to take on maximum damage. These robots had apparently been designed with Meta humans in mind. None of Batman's arsenal would be potent enough to penetrate that, but upon closer inspection, Batman could see where a human could possibly get inside and that would allow him to set off some charges if needed or perhaps cut the wiring to the main power. He waited until the other three Leaguers had gained most of the attention before firing off a grapple and beginning his descent towards the closest robot.

Flash was zipping around the robots at breakneck speed. They were all trying to pin him down for a kill shot, but he'd been able to avoid that for the time being. After some quick maneuvering, Flash was able to get one robot to mistakenly hit another with a missile. The explosion cracked the outer protective casing, but didn't cause enough damage to stop the robot. Meanwhile Diana charged at a group of five that were converging on a home where an innocent family was hiding. She pulled out her lasso and threw it around one of the cannons on a robot before she pulled with all her might. As she pulled, the robot lifted off the ground and flew right into her before she had the chance to react. It landed on top of her and had her arms pinned underneath it alongside her body. Diana struggled to pull her arms free under the weight of this massive machine as it pointed a weapon directly at her face. She managed to get an arm free just as the robot fired, and Diana blocked the blast with her bracer. She pulled her other arm free and grabbed the base of the robot, picking it up into the air where she tossed it into another robot. With those two incapacitated for the moment she could hear another robot approaching from behind her, and she turned to face the machine ready to strike. The robot stopped suddenly and smoke began to emanate from inside. The robot began to shake violently for a moment before Diana noticed a small figure in black climbing out of an opening. She realized that it was Batman just before the robot exploded. Diana protected her face for a moment before her thoughts returned to her teammate. She looked around frantically until she heard a thud just to the left and behind her. Batman's body had impacted a wall from the force of the blast and he fell to the ground in a heap.

More robots were converging on Diana and Batman until Superman flew by picking up the two robots nearest to them. Diana retrieved her lasso, and flew over to another robot. She latched onto it, and flipped it over where it landed on its top. She grabbed hold of a piece on the bottom and ripped it off which gave her access to the inside of it. Flash joined her and swiftly climbed inside. The robot struggled to get flipped back over before it began shaking. Flash darted back out of the robot and away as Diana flew over to Batman and picked up his limp body before she took off for a safer place as the robot was about to explode.

Diana laid Batman down on a rooftop just as the robot exploded. She could feel the quake tremble from where they were. Diana looked down at her teammate and realized that he wasn't breathing. She scrambled through her thoughts as to what she should do for a moment before reaching for her communicator. "J'onn!" She yelled. "Batman was hurt and he isn't breathing."

"Begin chest compressions counting up to thirty at more than one per second Diana." J'onn instructed.

Diana began pumping on Batman's chest as he continued providing her with instructions. "Then tilt his head back and lift his chin. Pinch his nose and cover his mouth with yours and blow until you see his chest rise. Give two breaths at a second per breath and check for signs of breathing on his own before starting over again."

Diana did as instructed and lowered her mouth to Batman's giving two quick breaths. She watched Batman's chest as it rose and fell for each breath before checking his status. He still wasn't breathing. Superman flew over and saw that his teammate was still not breathing as Diana worked on him. The site of this caused some anger to build in the Man of Steel, and he charged at the robots using his heat vision and ice breath to light the robots up and freeze them in place. Flash had heard Diana's call to J'onn over the communicator and was doing his best to get every victim to safety while Superman continued beating and destroying the robots. Diana was on her sixth round of breaths for Batman by this point. She returned to her compressions on his chest as she called out to J'onn again. "He's still not responsive J'onn. Is there anything else I can do?"

"It's been three minutes. I have a defibrillator in the transporter room. Continue your progressions and prepare for transport. We'll need to remove his uniform in order to…"

At the sound of his suit being removed it seemed to cause Batman to respond as he took in a large breath before coughing. Diana's face was right in front of his as she had just finished with two more breaths when Batman became responsive. He coughed a few more times before opening his eyes to see Diana right before him. "How…How long have I…." He tried to get out.

"A few minutes." Diana answered with a smile on her face. "You weren't breathing and I had to give you CPR. I thought we'd lost you for a moment."

Batman tried to sit up, but Diana placed a hand on his chest, and he was unable to hide the pain from his face. He'd at least had a minimum of bruised ribs, if they weren't cracked or broken. At least if they were broken, they hadn't punctured his lungs. He was able to take full breaths, and only the pain from the rib area was hindering him. Begrudgingly he laid back down. "It self-destructed when I tried to cut the power internally. I didn't have enough time to get out." He explained. "Better to just destroy them outright."

Diana looked around for a moment before returning her gaze to her injured teammate. "Superman has most of them defeated and Flash has gotten most of the civilians to safety." She informed him. "Victory is almost ours." Suddenly both of them disappeared in a bright light before reappearing in the Watchtower teleportation room. J'onn was standing by with the defibrillator at the ready until he saw that Batman was awake and breathing on his own.

"You did well Diana." J'onn informed her.

"Thank you J'onn, but I think Batman still requires some medical assistance." She responded. "I'll help Kal and Flash finish up, and be back to check on you soon Batman."

Diana helped Batman to his feet and walked him over to J'onn before she returned to the teleporter and transported back down to the battle. J'onn walked with Batman who was now refusing help to the medical bay where he sat down on one of the medical beds. J'onn looked him over briefly before suggesting x-rays be taken to confirm there were no broken bones. "I already know nothing is broken J'onn." Batman called out. "I'm ready to head back out to the"

"You were nearly killed." J'onn interrupted him. "Diana saved your life just now. I suggest that you allow me to thoroughly examine you for any other possible injuries, and then you are returning home. Kal El, Diana, and Flash can handle the remaining battle."

A batglare was all that J'onn received as a response before Batman stood up and stomped out of the medical bay. J'onn thought to give chase, but he could already sense Batman's anger at being seen in any way as weak or a liability in the field of battle. He knew from glimpses he'd seen of Batman's thoughts that Batman was never one to allow a weakness to be seen, and took great lengths to maintain that aura of being indestructible himself. What J'onn had said to this man had taken that away even though no one else was there to see or hear it, and Batman was making certain that no one else would know of it either. He was likely storming away and wouldn't be heard from again until the status meeting next week.

Batman was so angry that he was seething as he stormed towards the teleporters. He was returning to the cave and going out on patrol tonight. Those criminals that would come out on this night were going to be in a world of trouble if they crossed paths with Batman. He didn't want to be thought of as weak in any sense. So what if he was the only non super powered hero in the League. He'd taken down Wonder Woman in sparring, had Flash running scared of him. Weak should never be something that any of them would think of when it came to him. He wouldn't be returning to them unless they begged right now. As Batman walked into the teleportation room, the pads lit up indicating two arrival requests had been made. Batman granted that request as he had already remotely programmed in his desired destination and he didn't pause at all as Green Lantern and Hawkgirl appeared before him. They stepped off the pads just as Batman pushed the engage button on the console before stepping onto a teleportation pad and disappearing. Hawkgirl and Green Lantern looked at each other in confusion for a moment before shrugging their shoulders and continuing on their way.

Within another hour Superman, Flash, and Wonder Woman had defeated all of the robots and returned to the Watchtower. They all made their way to the medical bay to check on their teammate's status, but only found J'onn there. "Where did that stubborn ass go J'onn?" Superman asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb.

"I believe he returned to his home." J'onn answered. "He refused medical treatment. I may have unintentionally insulted him."

Superman enabled his communicator and opened a line. "Superman to Batman, please respond."

"Batman here. What is it?" Came the response.

"Where are you?" Superman asked. "You're supposed to be getting medical clearance before leaving the medical bay."

"Sue me." Batman answered. "I'm patrolling Gotham and I'm fine. Just some bruised ribs. I emailed my report about the encounter already so unless it's an emergency, you shouldn't need me up there."

Superman sighed in defeat. "Very well. We'll see you at the next meeting if not before then."

"Batman out." Was the response before the line was disconnected.

"Why is he so insistent on being stubborn?" Diana asked. "We are supposed to be a team."

Superman didn't have an answer for that, and turned to leave the medical bay. He had to finish his monitor duty shift. Flash just shrugged his shoulders and scurried away towards the cafeteria for some caffeine. J'onn looked at Diana for a moment before he responded to her question. "Batman is the only non powered being on this station. He does not like to be thought of as weak, and I inadvertently indicated him as such."

"We don't think of him as weak." Diana responded. "In fact until this incident, I'd never thought twice about checking on his condition."

"He is different from all of us Diana." J'onn continued. "It has to be difficult for him when everyone else seems to be invulnerable to injury. I believe that is why he is so secretive as he has the power of the unknown in his favor. If he were to lose that, then he would likely consider himself the weak one of the Justice League and retire to only defend Gotham."

~~ Later that night ~~

Batman was doing well on his patrol this night. Crime was low for the evening, and that gave him time to focus on older open cases like seeking out Catwoman. He'd taken the time to dig in to some paperwork as he pieced a paper trail together that had indirectly led him to a likely hideout for the feline burglar. He stood at a nearby building with binoculars in hand as he peered through windows of the building in search of his target. She would be going to jail tonight if he had any say. After a few silent moments, he knew that he'd been spotted watching the building as he heard the indistinct sounds of Selina approaching. Batman stood his ground, allowing his prey to come close enough for capture. Sure enough Catwoman landed behind him gracefully on the building ledge. "So, you've found where I sleep at night. Care for a personal tour Batman?" Selina purred as she approached him seductively.

When she was in arm's reach, she dragged her claws gently across his chest plate. She looked up into the white lenses of the cowl as if she were trying to read his thoughts before she placed a hand on each of his shoulders and leaned forward. "I've missed being this close to you Batman." She flirted. "It's been far too long."

Batman placed his hands on Catwoman's sides. "Where is the Bastet Amulet?" He asked abruptly.

"You're still looking for that?" She asked as she inched closer to his face. "Its in a safe place until the buyer is ready to pick it up. But I'm tired of talking shop Batman. What do you say I take you in for a little nightcap."

Catwoman leaned in ever closer as she got onto her toes until his mouth was mere inches away from hers. She again looked up into the lenses of the cowl for any signs that she should continue or stop. Batman hadn't made a move toward or away from her so she continued forward until her lips brushed against his softly at first. She pulled his bottom lip in her teeth as she was looking to get a response out of him. Batman did finally respond by lowering his head to continue kissing her as the passion between the two of them began to grow steadily. His hands began traveling towards her breasts as she deepened the kiss and moaned when he grabbed hold of them and began to massage them. She finally broke the kiss and grabbed one of his hands to lead him to her room, but he held his ground and didn't budge when she pulled on his arm. "What is it?" She asked.

Batman raised his other hand to the cowl. "Batman here. Go ahead." He spoke.

Catwoman dropped his arm at that point knowing that the bat was back in full force and any intimate actions were now out the window. She sighed in disappointment as he listened to the voice coming from his communicator.

"Batman, we need some backup." Came the voice of a startled Batgirl. "Nightwing's been shot by one of yours."

"What's his condition?" Batman asked.

"Gun shot wound to the leg." Batgirl explained. "He's still losing blood and we're pinned down. It's Deadshot."

"On my way." Batman responded. He looked at a disinterested Catwoman as he pressed a button on his belt. "Return the statue, or I will find you again and have you locked up Selina."

She began to protest, but heard the sound of a jet engine overhead as Batman pulled out his grapple and fired it into the air. Within seconds he was yanked from the rooftop and was retracting the line pulling him up to the Batwing and heading in the direction of Bludhaven.