When the grandfather clock slid back into place, hiding the entrance to the cave Diana leaned her shoulders and head up against it. She was almost looking to the ceiling for answers as to what she should be thinking or feeling. She'd been deceived by someone that she thought of as a friend and wanted to be angry with him, but seeing Bruce in his current condition and the sound of despair and resignation in his voice made being angry not possible. Instead she found herself wanting to reach out and comfort Bruce in any way that she could. As Batman, he was the most persistent and unwavering figure she'd met outside of her homeland of Themyscria. Batman's will alone would rival that of her gods, but in the cave she sensed that will was nonexistent just moments ago. Being angry with Bruce would have to wait, and she knew it. She believed in her heart that Bruce would eventually find a way to pull through this and return to being the Batman that the Justice League had all come to know and respect. Right now though he would need the support of his teammates, friends, and family. She only wondered what comfort she could provide him from her perspective. "Miss Diana, what are you doing out of the cave?" A swiftly approaching Alfred abruptly asked while holding a tray with two cups and a carafe of coffee in hand.

Diana stood away from the grandfather clock with her shoulders slumped slightly, and she grabbed her left arm at the elbow as it hung down at her side. "Bruce…." She started. "He's awake Alfred."

"Thank heavens." Alfred said. He then noticed the saddened look upon Diana's face. "What is it my dear?"

"He wished to be alone Alfred." Diana answered in an almost whispered voice. "He said he couldn't feel his arms or legs."

"Oh." Alfred responded. "I see. Well, Miss Diana please don't take offense to the Master asking for a moment to compose himself. Master Bruce has never been one to take such things as severe injuries lightly. Shall we have a seat and provide Master Bruce with a few more minutes?"

Alfred led Diana further into the library and over to a couch where she took a seat. Alfred set the tray he was holding down before he poured Diana a cup and handed it to her. Then he poured himself a cup and sat down next to her. Diana leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees. She held the coffee mug in both hands and seemed to be staring intently into the dark liquid. Alfred sat quietly next to her. He seemed to have a sense about him that let him know she was looking for the words to something. After a few moments, she finally began to speak. "How long have you known Bruce?" She asked.

"I've known the young man since birth Miss Diana." He answered. "Why do you ask?"

Diana ignored Alfred's question and continued along the path that she was laying. "Since he decided to become Batman, have you ever seen or heard him giving in?"

Alfred was beginning to become concerned about this line of questioning that he was being asked, and he wasn't hiding that concern from his facial features as he answered once again. "While I am certain there have been times where Master Bruce has questioned whether or not what he does at night helps or not, I cannot recall a time where giving in has been an option the Master has allowed to escape his own mind."

Diana took a sip of her coffee before returning to her position of staring at it. "He said that he was no good to the League or the city Alfred." Diana said. "And then asked to be alone, but while I was on my way up the stairs, I could hear him apologizing to no one in the room."

Realization donned on Alfred upon hearing Diana letting him know what she'd heard Bruce saying. "I believe he might have been apologizing to his parents Miss." Alfred explained. Diana looked up into the butler's eyes with a questioning gaze, and he decided to delve a little further so that Diana could understand. "You see Miss, when Master Bruce lost his parents so many years ago; he made a vow to them. This vow was to protect the city in their honor. His main desire was to prevent any other child from experiencing the tragedy that he was forced to. At first I believed this vow was just out of anger towards the man that had taken Mr. and Mrs. Wayne's lives that horrible night, but as the years progressed Master Bruce proved that he meant every word."

"And he believes that if he's paralyzed that he has failed them?" Diana assumed more than asked.

"That would be a correct assumption Miss." Alfred confirmed. "I think we've given the Master enough time. Let's check on him before we wake the others." Alfred stood and picked up the tray before waiting for Diana to follow. She looked into the dark liquid once more before putting the mug to her mouth and swallowing all that remained in it. She stood and handed the mug to the waiting Alfred and followed him over to the grandfather clock, where he once again manipulated the hour and minute hands before pulling on the hidden lever in order to gain access to the Batcave entrance. Once opened they both made their way down the stairs, each was secretly hoping that they would find Bruce struggling to get free from the medical table, but their hopes were summarily dashed as they came to find Bruce exactly where he'd been before. His eyes were closed and as they came close enough, they could see where a stream of tears had trailed down each side of his face. Diana stayed just behind Alfred as the older man approached slowly. When he was right next to the table, he leaned in a little more closely and quietly spoke. "Hello young man."

"It's been a long time since you've called me that." Bruce said without opening his eyes.

"Yes it has sir." Alfred agreed. "Welcome back Master Bruce. We were all quite concerned."

"I assumed so. Otherwise how else would Clark and Diana have known to find me." Bruce said just before he opened his eyes to look at the older man that had been basically his father during the latter part of his life. He then noticed that Diana was with Alfred. "Diana, I need you to reach out to Clark so that I can inform him of my resignation from the League."

Both Alfred and Diana gasped slightly upon hearing that. "Don't you think you should give it some time before making any rash decisions?" Diana asked. "As I said before, you can't be certain that your current condition….."

"I have no feelings in my arms or legs, Diana." Bruce interrupted. "I'll do what I can to keep the League function financially, but aside from that I have nothing to offer anymore." Bruce took a deflating breath and then looked back at Alfred. "How are Nightwing and Batgirl?"

"Master Nightwing took a rather nasty beating, but will in some time fully recover from his injuries." Alfred responded. "Batgirl has a mild concussion, but otherwise is in good health."

"Good." Bruce replied. "I assume Leslie is here." When Alfred nodded affirmatively he continued. "Go ahead and have her come down to check on my condition. We need to make some preparations for an alibi as to how Bruce Wayne became paralyzed."

Alfred began to make his exit when Bruce began to address Diana again. "I'm sure you have something to get off your chest Diana. Go ahead while we've got a few minutes."

"Now isn't the time Bruce." Diana said. "You need to rest and heal from your injuries. We can confront the topic of where you and I stand later."

"I can't guarantee there will be a later Diana." Bruce said.

Diana placed a hand on her chest and took a step back. She was caught off guard by how different Bruce seemed. Gone was that confident arrogance that Bruce always showed off from behind the cowl or that billionaire playboy smile. "What are you saying Bruce?" She asked.

"What am I saying?" He repeated in a tone that was almost as if he were insulted to be asked such a question. "I'm saying that Batman is the only valid link between the Justice League and myself. Without that then there isn't a valid reason for a paraplegic Bruce Wayne to have ties to anyone from the League aside from financial support."

"What about how you pursued friendship with me as the billionaire Bruce Wayne?" Diana asked as she was slightly hurt and becoming somewhat angry with him at the same time. "Was all that just a ruse?"

Bruce remained silent as a response. "Are you too cowardly to answer me Bruce?" Diana prodded. "What did you hope to gain from approaching me in such a manner? Did you really think that I was naive or ignorant enough that I wouldn't be able to piece together that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same man?"

Bruce knew that he owed Diana an explanation, but the words seemed to leave him before he could respond to her questions. "What was it that was so worth betraying my trust and insulting my intelligence Bruce?"

"I…." Bruce began to stammer as he fought within himself to answer her. "I….didn't intend….to go passed the charity Diana."

"Then why did you Bruce?" Diana asked as the anger was now reaching her voice clearly. She dropped her arms to her sides and her hands clenched into tight fists. "Why did you continue to pursue me if you didn't want anything more than to talk to me during the charity gala?"

Bruce remained silent, but not so much because he didn't want to answer her. More so Bruce simply didn't know why he did it himself. He knew that he pursued her in that fashion, and it was not the other way around. If he'd not given his word that he would call or if he'd simply not asked her to meet again outside the gala, Diana wouldn't have thought twice about contacting him again. That thought made him shake to his core for reasons that he didn't understand or know. "I hope you gained whatever it was you were looking for Bruce." Diana spat out at him before turning to walk away. "I'll tell Kal that you are seeking an audience with him to officially resign."

Bruce felt something else brewing inside of him at that moment. It was an unfamiliar feeling that he didn't like in the least, but he knew that he was the cause of it. He closed his eyes for a second and took a short breath. "I don't know." He whispered.

Diana stopped in her tracks as her sense of hearing easily picked up what he'd whispered. She stood there with her back to him. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you Diana." Bruce said in a very contrite voice. "I didn't mean to continue seeing you. I knew you would put the pieces together sooner or later regardless of how well I kept up my guard. I….I wasn't trying to take advantage….I just don't know."

Diana stood there for a few moments. Bruce watched as her shoulders rose and fell with each breath she took. It felt like time was standing still as he waited to see if she would say anything at all to him or if she would just leave. Finally after a couple of minutes she turned her head so she could see his face. "When you find out your reasoning you may call me again Bruce." She said and then took flight and headed out of the cave. Bruce puffed out the air he didn't realize he was holding inside all that time.

"Give her some time sir." Alfred said before Bruce realized that he had been there the whole time. "Miss Diana will return once she's had some time to think."

"No Alfred." Bruce responded. "I've burned the bridge between us. She's gone for good."

"I don't think so sir." Alfred replied. Bruce raised a bruised eyebrow in confusion at the older man standing before him. "She didn't say never to contact her again sir. So there is still hope that you can rebuild that bridge. If you have the desire to do so that is sir."

~~ Three hours later ~~

Diana flew around Gotham for an hour before she requested teleportation back up to the Watchtower. She needed some rest after the day that she'd been through. It had been an emotional rollercoaster for her, and she was beyond exhausted. She didn't stop to chat with anyone once she was onboard and instead headed directly to her own personal quarters. As soon as her head hit the pillows of her bed she passed out. Her sleep however wasn't a restful one. She tossed and turned in her bed as her mind seemed to refuse to stop processing things from the past 24 hours. Finally she gave in on getting any sleep and made her way to the commissary for some more caffeine. It was there that she found Kal eating breakfast by himself. He looked about as exhausted as she felt. Diana made her way over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup before she took a seat across from Superman. "Good morning Kal." She greeted him.

"I'm not sure about that Diana." Kal responded. "Good doesn't seem to cut it today. Not after last night."

"I understand what you mean." Diana replied. "Speaking of last night, Br….Batman requested that I relay a message to you. He wishes to resign from the League."

"What? Why?" Kal asked.

"Because of his condition." Diana explained. "He's paralyzed Kal."

Superman's eyes became as large as saucers upon hearing that. "No." He said under his breath. "It can't be."

"I'm sorry Kal, but it is." Diana responded. "He said as much to me before I left the cave."

"I can't believe he's giving up Di." Kal stated. "He's never given up before. Why wouldn't he at least give it some time to see if his condition doesn't improve first?"

"Perhaps in time he will change his mind Kal." Diana offered as she tried to supply a glimmer of hope. "In the meantime, he also requested that we provide him with the mission report on the volcanic activity. Batman said that he would at least look through our findings to see if there are any links between that and this Bane character. According to Batman, Bane was hired in order to remove him from interfering with whatever Ra's al Ghul is planning."

"Let's call a meeting together for today so that we can go over everything before we send it down to have Batman review everything." Superman suggested.

"How do we have Batman attend?" Diana asked. "I doubt he is in any condition to travel and he'll certainly want to protect his identity from anyone that hasn't figured out who he is underneath the cowl."

"We're not inviting him Di." Kal stated. "I'll inform the League that Batman is on temporary administrative leave until further notice. If anyone asks then I'll tell them that he is going off the grid working on an assignment in Gotham."

"Why?" Diana asked.

"Because as much as he likes to think so Di, Batman isn't always right." Kal answered confidently. "That man is too stubborn to give in, and he'll come around eventually. I just know it."

~~ Rundown warehouse in Gotham ~~

"I have completed my part of the deal." Bane said to the man standing in the shadows. "Now it's time for you to finish payment."

"I have your payment. I also am sending some of my men to confirm that the detective is out of commission Mr. Bane." Ra's al Ghul countered. "We can't have him helping the Justice League. Not after the test run was successful."

"I left the Bat broken and even injured one of his clan in the process, free of charge." Bane stated confidently before changing topics. "What is your plan Mr. al Ghul? I believe I've earned the right to know what I'm involved in."

"It's quite simple really." Ra's stated. "I intend to ensure that the evils of man do not interfere with my plans for rebuilding the world where crime will not exist. Man is the disease for this world, and I am going to rectify that situation by starting the world over with a clean slate."

"That will require many deaths." Bane surmised. "Are you certain that you have all of the resources needed? How will you keep the Justice League from stopping you? They are a formidable lot."

"While that is true, without the detective to help them they pose little threat to stopping me before it's too late." Ra's responded arrogantly. "Once I receive confirmation that you've kept your end of the bargain, if you are interested, I wouldn't be opposed to finding a place for you within my League of Assassins. The benefits would far outweigh the losses if you choose not to join I can assure you."

"I am intrigued Mr. al Ghul." Bane said.

"Very well then." Ra's said before snapping his fingers, which caused another man to appear before Bane with a briefcase in hand. The man held it up and allowed Bane to open it to view the contents. "Your final payment for handling the detective." Ra's continued. "I will be in contact as soon as confirmation has been made."

Bane took the briefcase and turned to leave the building. As soon as the door closed behind him, Talia appeared from behind Ra's over his right shoulder. "I do not trust him father." She said. "Even if he has been successful in defeating Batman, I don't believe he is someone that should be a part of the League."

"I will take your concerns under advisement daughter." Ra's responded. "Bane is an intriguing prospect, and he's also controllable. My researchers have found that the very poison which gives Bane his strength has also become a dependent for his body. Without it he will slowly and painfully die in time. So long as we control the supply of his venom, we control him, and if he chooses to become a problem then I already know what to do in order to stop him. With some guidance, perhaps he could be the heir to my empire that your beloved detective so vehemently declined to accept."

Talia lowered her head slightly and turned away from her father until an idea came to her. "Father, I request that you send me to discover if there is truth to Bane's claim that he has broken Batman."

Ra's turned to his daughter and looked deeply into her eyes for any possible signs that she would betray him. He circled around her as she stood still awaiting his response. "Very well daughter. But do not take long. We leave this city in a week's time so that the next phase can begin."

~~ Watchtower ~~

Flash sped into the conference room for the impromptu meeting that Superman had scheduled earlier with donuts and iced mochas for everyone. He was actually a little late due to having to be careful while carrying everything in at once. He knew he was being hopeful when he had grabbed the seventh cup, but wasn't surprised to see that Batman wasn't in attendance. At that realization, instead of setting the cup down at the empty seat he kept it with him and set it down on the floor next to his own chair where no one would see it. Flash was actually surprised that he wasn't the last one in the conference room as well, as Superman was not there yet either. Flash took his seat quietly for probably the first time ever as he observed Diana sitting across from him. Something about her didn't seem to be the same as it normally was. While she was never the most talkative of the group, she always at least joined in to the conversations that were going on unless she was working on something in front of her, but at this time she was merely sitting there with her arms folded in front of her chest staring off at nothing. Flash was about to say something to her when he heard Superman coming into the conference room. He was talking to someone on the communicator.

"Look, all I'm saying is just think it…." Superman said before he was interrupted on the other end of the communicator session. "Alright…No, I'm not going to make any rash decisions just because…." He was once again interrupted, and frustration was starting to set in. The rest of the conference room had focused on his own conversation with whomever at that point. As Superman's facial expression became more and more frustrated, it became obvious to everyone else that he had to be arguing with Batman. Only he could frustrate Superman so easily. "Just….let me….Look, I'm in the conference room. I have to…. No I won't do that…We'll discuss this later."

Superman ended the transmission and finished walking over to his seat. He almost collapsed into his seat sighing as though he were completely exhausted. Everyone else kept the focus on the Man of Steel as he sat slumped in his chair for a minute or two. He looked around the table until his eyes landed on Diana. She was holding a blank stare at the moment, and he knew that he needed to begin. He took a deep breath to clear his mind and stood with his hands resting on top of the table as he leaned against it. "I know some of you are wondering why I've called this meeting, but there's been some significant topics that couldn't wait for our standard meeting." Superman began. "First is that we've confirmed the incident in Washington and the prison break out in Gotham weren't isolated incidents. Batman encountered an individual that calls himself Bane that night. Bane was the one that let all of the criminals loose in order to draw out and attack Batman."

"Why would he do something like that?" Green Lantern asked.

"According to Batman, this Bane character was hired by Ra's al Ghul in order to go after him." Superman explained. "Batman believes this was to keep him away from whatever it is that Ra's is planning, and he also believes that the volcanic activity in Washington is directly related to whatever that plan is."

"Why isn't Batman here so that we can compare notes and come up with a strategy on how to stop this Ra's al Ghul?" Shayera asked.

Superman looked over to Flash for a second before turning his head to face Diana. Her expression was no longer blank, but held a sorrowful tone about it now. "Batman…." Superman started as he turned back towards Shayera. "Batman won't be coming aboard anytime soon."

"What do you mean?" Shayera asked.

"Batman requested that he be put on temporary leave of absence." Superman answered. It was a lie though. The communicator call he'd been on was with Batman. He'd stated that he wanted to resign completely from the League because he was nothing more than a detriment to the team now. Superman refused to accept and countered with just using a temporary inactive status, but Batman had been vehemently opposed to that option. He'd made up his mind and that was to be the end of it. But with Batman not present to argue his point, Superman decided to supersede him.

"How long is temporary?" J'onn asked.

Superman signaled over to Flash before he spoke again. "Flash investigated the area where the confrontation occurred, so hopefully he would know more than me, but Batman was injured during the fight. It's going to take some time for him to heal. Speaking of, Flash, what were you able to find out about the scene of the crime?"

Flash took a last slurp of his iced mocha before he typed in some commands onto the console. A 3D image appeared before all the League members. "I found some surveillance footage from nearby buildings." Flash said. "I'll warn you, it isn't pretty." Flash hit the play button and the feed began showing a distorted view of the battle on the GCPD building. Shayera inadvertently cringed when she saw Batman's head rammed into and through the brick wall. John and Diana were glued to the footage playing before them. They'd never seen Batman so handily defeated before. Even against villains much more powerful than he was. Flash stopped the feed when Bane held Batman over his head, ready for the finishing blow.

"As you can see, Bane is not someone to be taken lightly." Superman concluded. "Batman was willing to review our notes and look through what he has for any possible leads. In the mean time, we'll all just have to pick up the slack while Batman heals."

The meeting didn't last too much longer as Superman wanted to keep the questions about Batman down to a minimum. When the others filed out of the conference room though, Diana stopped at the doorway and entered a code to shut and lock the door. Her back was still facing Superman as he waited for what it was she needed to get off her chest. He didn't have to wait long. "You lied to everyone in the meeting, didn't you?" She stated more than asked. "Bruce didn't agree to a temporary leave of absence."

"No, he didn't." Superman confessed.

"Why didn't you respect his wishes?" She asked as she turned to face him.

"Because sometimes even Batman isn't always right Diana." Superman explained. "He's extremely hard headed and he usually is right, but not always. I believe this is one of those times, and I have faith that he'll return once he's healed."

"Do you know something that you're not telling me?" She asked.

"No Diana." Superman responded. "I just have this feeling inside. A feeling that Batman will return. Besides, as annoying and as much of an ass as he can be, the League is better with Batman in it than without."

That blind faith seemed to make something click inside of Diana. Her body flinched for a moment as her mind began to race. "Is everything alright Diana?" Superman asked as he noticed the flinching motion.

"Oh, yes Kal." Diana responded. "I just thought of something that I need to do. Thank you for answering me honestly."

Diana turned again and unlocked the door so that she could make her exit. She had monitor duty to attend soon, but she needed to head to her personal quarters quickly first. She needed a moment away from any prying ears.

~~ Wayne Manor ~~

After Dr. Leslie checked over Bruce in the Batcave, she decided that they could begin to cease the cold treatment that was preventing any swelling from taking place. She recruited Alfred, Dick, and Tim to secure Bruce and bring him up to the Manor so that he could be more comfortable. It would be a long road ahead for Bruce, especially if he didn't regain the use of his limbs. She knew that they'd done all they could to help him, but now Bruce would have to accept that it would take time. Leslie oversaw the move from the cave to the master bedroom where Bruce would stay. She provided Alfred with all the details on how to go about handling Bruce as she knew him well enough to know that outside help wouldn't be permitted. That was at least until a suitable alibi was planted and had taken shape to cover his tracks as a night time vigilante.

Alfred had already begun the process of informing those that needed to know of Bruce's abrupt absence. Fortunately this wouldn't be the first time that such an absence had occurred, so no one would think any differently. However, during the "absence", an accident would have to occur which explained away the injuries so that Alfred could hire the proper help for Bruce. He never cared for allowing extra help in the house as they could be more trouble than they were worth, but in instances like this professional assistance would know better how to handle someone with such an injury. Alfred was despondent at seeing how someone as strong as Bruce had been reduced to such a dire state. While he always knew there could be a time where Bruce was critically injured or even killed, he'd never imagined that Bruce would end up like this.

Tim had chosen to stay and help Alfred until Barbara showed back up. She was coming over after work to go through more information on Bane and then would be heading out on patrol. Without Batman, it would only be a matter of time before the criminals began to gain confidence in their own safety. Dick was going to come back by for the first few nights to help keep an eye on Gotham. He couldn't stay for long though as Bludhaven required him to be there quite a bit as it was. Tim decided that he would continue going out and watching from afar until Dick gave his blessing that he was ready to join in on patrols actively. Tim knew that Bruce needed there to be a Robin now more so than ever. Bruce had done too much for this city to have it all crumble away. When they had made certain that Bruce was resting, Tim went to his room to change so that he could begin training. He needed to be ready as soon as possible.

Bruce had fallen asleep after cursing about the damn Kryptonian that had hung up on him. If he had the ability to, he would have teleported up to the Watchtower and crammed a piece of Kryptonite down Clark's throat. Unfortunately that anger sapped almost all of Bruce's energy away. He felt so weak and helpless, and that frustrated him to his core. He was going to hate his life even more than he already did before the injury. He actually slept through the transition from cave to Manor, which was surprising, but only until he realized that Leslie had doped him up with pain medication. It was yet another item of the checklist of things that he couldn't stop anymore. If anyone were inclined to do so, they could pump him full of pain killers and he wouldn't be able to stop them. And while the pain was subdued, Bruce still knew that he couldn't move. He actually slept for a few hours after he'd been moved and only woke up when Alfred opened the bedroom door. "What is it Alfred?" Bruce asked in a drowsy voice.

"I'm sorry sir, but you seem to have a visitor." Alfred stated as he stepped aside to allow the visitor entrance into the master bedroom.