Almost a week had gone by since Diana's confrontation with the daughter of the Demon's Head at Wayne Manor. She'd been able to come down to work through files with Bruce for a couple of hours almost every night, but he'd been unable to trace any link between Bane and the tectonic plate shifting devices that had been used in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Diana found herself to be amazed as she helped Bruce work through all of the information, watching him as he worked feverishly to uncover the plans that Ra's al Ghul had for the world. The man was like a machine at times as he poured over seemingly every detail. Diana couldn't believe that anything would ever be able to get passed the man as he instructed her on how he wanted to investigate every seemingly innocuous bit of details that were supplied in the report their fellow League teammates had put in.
The first two visits were rather uncomfortable as Bruce dealt with his frustration on his current condition. He didn't like having to have someone there to merely type information into the computer at all. In fact, Diana had to weather the temperamental man for the first hour each time she came by. Initially Alfred had warned her upon her initial arrival of Bruce's poor attitude. Sure enough, the older man had been correct in his description of Bruce's demeanor. As soon as he'd seen Diana walking into the bedroom, Bruce immediately tried to order her to leave and to have her deliver his resignation to the rest of the League. He no longer trusted Superman with such things since the man had refused to listen to him and inform the League during the last League meeting held. By the fourth day however, with one small possible lead to look forward to, Bruce stopped demanding that his request for resignation be honored. He instead wanted Diana, someone, anyone there so that he could continue following that lead to its end.
By the sixth night, Bruce had found some companies that designed parts of the components that Ra's had needed based off of Superman's description of what the machine looked like. Bruce wanted to investigate further on the safest means of stopping the machines if it came down to that as Ra's had remained silent to that point. He had uncovered that Superman's just removing the machine, which he'd deduced was the prototype test run, had caused almost as much damage as if he'd have left it in the Earth. Tremors, earthquakes, and more volcanic activity had been occurring ever since. In fact, at the location where Superman had removed the device, there was now a new volcanic island. Its growth had been deemed exponential by all scientists and experts. They'd never before recorded such a movement as this island was now being considered a super volcano. It had already reached the size of Maui, and was showing no signs of slowing in its growth.
It was also on the sixth night that Superman had made the mistake of visiting Bruce to check up on his friend. Instantly he was met with an overwhelming anger from the still crippled man just from his being in the same room together. Bruce laid into him about not following through with advising the League about his desire to resign with numerous curse laden insults mixed in, and all of them pointed directly at the Kryptonian. Diana arrived when Superman had taken the last of the verbal jabs aimed at him. Unfortunately, the insults didn't come to an end because of Bruce running out of things to say, but rather because he was out of breath and still feeling the effects of some pain medication that he was still on. That combination had quickly exhausted Bruce. When Diana walked in and saw the still red faced Bruce trying to catch his breath, she almost wanted to slap Kal silly. She knew that now she'd have to spend half of her time there attempting to cool Bruce down again when she'd thought that they had finally moved passed that point just a few nights ago. She quickly followed Kal out of the bedroom and admonished him for not realizing that his direct refusal to abide to Bruce's wishes would certainly have had the effect that it did when he showed up. Even though she knew that his intentions were well placed, he still knew Bruce better than any other League member, and Diana even from her short time with Bruce, she knew that Kal's being there would bring about Bruce's wrath. She did cut her reprimand off though when she saw that Kal had actually been stung by some of Bruce's harsh words.
"It's alright Diana." Kal said trying to shrug it off.
"No Kal." Diana responded. "Bruce shouldn't have been so harsh towards a friend and colleague. Especially when you were only coming to check on him. But I hope you know that it's more the situation than it is you that is the result of his anger and frustration coming out. When Bruce is back up and able to return to his more independent ways, I'm sure the friendship between the two of you will return to normal."
Kal snorted and chuckled at the thought of that before something struck him. "You're sounding a little more optimistic about Bruce's recovery Diana." He said. "Is there something you know that I don't?"
Diana thought for a moment about the two instances where she had felt something while holding Bruce's hand that night almost a week ago. She hadn't had the same sensation at all during any other night, but her faith that Bruce would be alright didn't waver in the least. "It's just a feeling that I've been having while spending time with him Kal." Diana explained. "That's all."
Kal looked up at a clock and let out a tired sigh. "Well, I'd probably better get going." He responded with a smile. "Make sure Bruce behaves himself Diana."
She returned the smile from Kal with a smirk of her own before nodding and giving him a big hug. She watched him exit into the Batcave entrance before she turned on her heel and headed back into the bedroom. Once inside she closed the door behind her, and approached the bed to find a less red faced Bruce waiting. He was intentionally looking away from her though for reasons that she didn't know of. She decided to get onto business as the previous nights that had been the best way of getting Bruce's mind off of his injuries as well as his choice of wanting to resign. Diana had no desire to rehash that argument with him, and she hoped that he would keep business at the forefront until he'd calmed down. She grabbed the tablet PC before taking her seat next to Bruce on the bed and propping up her pillows for comfort before leaning back and looking over to Bruce, who seemed to have an interest in the wall on the opposite side of the room. "Bruce, don't you want to follow up on your lead from the other night?" Diana asked.
"Stupid Kryptonian." Bruce muttered under his breath. "Why don't you go see to Kal?"
Diana heard the snarling tone of Superman's Kryptonian name, and realized that Bruce was still fuming. "Do you want me to come back another night Bruce?" She asked.
Bruce remained silent and closed his eyes. His face was beginning to turn red again, and that told her that Bruce still needed some time to cool off. Diana set the tablet PC back onto the night stand, and stood up from the bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes Bruce." She said before heading back out of the bedroom and seeking out Alfred. She needed to stall for some time before she would attempt to get through to him again. Only time seemed to allow Bruce to gain control of his raging emotions. Little did Diana know though that Bruce was hiding something from everyone that he'd discovered earlier that day in which he had yet to reveal to anyone. He didn't want to say anything until he was sure himself.
~~ Gotham rooftops ~~
On this stormy night Dick, Barbara, and Tim were all out on the streets of Gotham patrolling the city. It had been six days with no Batman sightings, and the criminals had just begun to show some more courage with their activities after the sun had given way to the night. Dick wanted to squash that notion immediately, and to do so he had done something in which he'd promised himself that he would never do. When he arrived in the cave earlier that afternoon, he'd went over to the computer and started tracking all of the recently occurring crimes. Gotham was never going to be free of crime; there were always the small town crooks that were just desperate enough to continue down the slippery path which would eventually lead to a stay behind bars or worse. What Dick noticed though was that the number of violent crimes had jumped considerably since Batman's absence. Even with Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin out patrolling, that wasn't enough to deter the increase. So in order to stop that trend, Dick attempted to settle things by donning the Batman suit himself and patrolling that way. Barbara and Tim understood Dick's reasoning and went along with him. While Tim wasn't quite ready to be on his own yet, Dick had Barbara patrol with Tim so that they could be split into two groups and cover more ground. Dick also thought to himself that perhaps if this plan settled things, then he could swing over to Bludhaven and check on his city as well. In the short term they'd all agreed that if anyone were to come across Bane, they would flee immediately as they didn't want to have Bruce blaming himself should anything happen to one of them, and they all knew that they weren't prepared to take on the masked man and come out on top. They'd been patrolling for a couple of hours when Dick found himself following three odd looking characters through the east end of town. They were walking slowly and kept peeking over their shoulders as though they were checking to see if they were being followed. Dick waited until he saw them approach a door to a factory and one of them pulled out a crowbar while the other two turned to stand watch. Dick quickly surveyed the area before he leapt off and glided down to his desired landing spot which just happened to be on top of the thug with the crowbar. The thug's face slammed into the door, and he was instantly down for the count.
The other two men took off running as they were in fear upon seeing the Dark Knight in person for the first time. Dick smirked before turning to restrain the other man. He chose to let the two others go just this once because he knew that they would be spreading the word that they'd run into Batman tonight. Batman's reputation alone would be enough so that Dick wouldn't have to get into the Batsuit again for the next few days at least. Fear was a wonderful tool to use at times. Once he was finished tying up the thug, Dick shot back up to the rooftops to continue his patrol. When he landed though, he immediately got into a defensive position. Something wasn't right on the rooftop and Dick could feel it. Suddenly his suspicions were confirmed by a voice that purred from the shadows. "How disappointing." Came the voice of Catwoman as she appeared at Dick's side. "So, I take it that the rumors are true, and now Robin all grown up is wearing the big boy pants."
"What do you want Selina?" Dick asked in a harsh voice.
"Well, I'll give you credit kid." Selina began. "You've certainly got the attitude down. Don't worry though; I'm not here to cause trouble. I only wanted to see if Batman really is out of the game for good like I've been hearing. I am curious though, why are you in his Batsuit?"
"That's none of your business." Dick fired back.
Selina smirked and approached Dick in a seductive manner before rubbing her body up against his. "Oh c'mon junior, I was only curious." Selina mock whined. "And besides, I owed Batman this." She pulled out the Bastet Amulet and held it out for Dick to take. He slowly and cautiously reached forward and removed the amulet from Selina's possession.
"What is this about?" Dick asked. "It seems too easy Selina."
Selina's shoulders slumped a little as she sighed before she explained. "Without the real Batman here, it kind of kills the mood. There's no more excitement for the hunt without him here to chase me. Maybe it's time for me to straighten up before it's too late."
"That would be a wise choice Selina." Dick replied as he relaxed his stance finally.
Selina smirked and began to walk away from Dick. "Send Batman my regards and best wishes." She said. "Tell him that I hope to see him soon. Besides…" She said as she climbed up onto the ledge of the roof. "That suit looks better on him than it does on you." Dick didn't get a chance to respond as Selina leapt off the rooftop leaving a bewildered Dick shaking his head at what had just happened. The night however was still young and Dick knew that there was much more to do so he fired off his grapple and took flight into the rain filled night.
While Dick was on his way over to Wayne Tower to regroup with the others, he was taken by surprise in seeing the Bat signal lighting up the night sky. Perhaps the Commissioner had wanted to know for sure if Batman was alright. It was also surprising that they had fixed or replaced the signal already. Dick knew that he'd be late, but the Commissioner was a good man and worked alongside the Batclan more than he should in the name of justice. So Dick promptly changed course and headed over to the GCPD rooftop.
Commissioner Gordon was standing by next to the new spotlight that was retrofitted into a new Bat signal. He was doing his best to keep dry in the rainfall that was intermittently changing from a steady rainfall to a downpour. He'd been standing up there in the rain for almost ten minutes, waiting for his true partner in the city's fight against crime, hoping that Batman would show and be alright. Jim didn't like what he'd heard from the bits and pieces he'd been told from his officers that had seen some of the confrontation. Then to have Flash onsite gathering intel left an uneasy feeling in Jim's stomach that something significant had happened. That feeling was quickly becoming an ulcer in his stomach. It was a feeling that he couldn't stand any longer once the signal was replaced. If Batman was critically injured, then Jim had no doubts Gotham would plummet into darkness and despair. After another five minutes had passed and Jim's jacket ceased blocking out the rain, he reached up to switch off the signal when he could feel a presence from behind him. "I hoped that you were alright." Jim said before turning around to see the man in the Batsuit standing before him. While it was a close resemblance, what little he could see of the man's face was enough to let him know that it wasn't the same Batman. "Or perhaps I was mistaken and Batman was seriously hurt."
"I wish I could report something you'd like to hear Commissioner." Dick responded. "I'm posing as Batman until he can take up the mantle again."
"So Batman's going to be alright?" Gordon asked.
"I don't want to lie to you Commissioner." Dick answered. "I also have this to hand over to you." Dick pulled out the amulet and handed it over to Gordon. "I ran into a cat burglar that gave this up."
"Oh." Gordon said. "Well, thank you for bringing it in. So how long do you think it'll be before someone discovers that you're really not him?"
"Hopefully long enough that he'll be back before that happens." Dick answered. "In the meantime he trained Batgirl, Robin and I, so we'll be available to help out whenever we can."
"You're Nightwing aren't you?" Gordon asked as realization struck him. Dick nodded in response. "Well at least we still have some remnants of the legacy of Batman in the meantime. Tell Batman when you see him that we all wish him a speedy recovery."
"Will do Commissioner." Dick responded before walking over to the ledge of the roof. "Is there anything else that you need?"
"Just to catch the son of a bitch that did this to Batman." Gordon stated as he gestured to the still disheveled rooftop.
"We're working on that Commissioner." Dick responded. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky for a moment and Gordon was distracted just long enough to give Dick the necessary time to leave unannounced. When the Commissioner looked back over at where Dick was standing he huffed before switching off the signal. "You've certainly got the disappearing act down." He said to no one before retreating back into the GCPD building.
~~ In the kitchen at the Manor ~~
"The man can be so difficult sometimes." Diana said as she absentmindedly stirred the sugar in her cup of tea.
"True, Master Bruce does have his faults Miss Diana." Alfred agreed. "But he always has a reason for everything that he does. Even though sometimes we might not understand the reason, it doesn't mean that it isn't a valid reason to him."
"I understand Alfred, I do." Diana replied. "I just wish that he would allow himself a few moments to relax. He's always paranoid and angry it seems. If it weren't for the fake smiles he wears while out in public, I doubt there'd be more than a handful of people that have seen him smile."
"I believe adding you to that list would make it six people my dear." Alfred half joked even though it was most likely a true statement.
Diana took a sip of her tea before lowering her head for a moment. "I doubt that's true Alfred." She replied. "I'd bet that his smile around me was fake as well. Until recently we never got along all that well as Batman and Wonder Woman."
"I think you're mistaken Miss." Alfred came back with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "In my time around Master Bruce, I've come to pick up on many of the intricate details as it were that reveal some of his emotions. There are certain areas where even Master Bruce can't hide."
"Such as?" She asked, now intently gazing into the older man's eyes to show her intrigue.
"Such as Master Bruce's fake smile versus the legitimate one." Alfred answered. "That is one of the easier things to pick up. When you have a moment, look into some of the public photos taken of Master Bruce at social events. Ones where you would be certain that he would rather be somewhere else. Then compare it to the next smile you receive from him. Look more so into Master Bruce's eyes Miss Diana. While small, there is a noticeable difference between the two. I also say this because it will serve as proof that you indeed are the sixth person to see Master Bruce actually smile."
"How do you pick up on so many things Alfred?" Diana asked.
"One does not live with the world's greatest detective and not pick up on some details Miss Diana." He explained before standing to taking both of their tea cups and place them into the dishwasher. "I think Master Bruce has had enough time to vent as it were."
~~ Master bedroom, ten minutes earlier ~~
Bruce was grimacing as he focused wholeheartedly on what he was trying to do. He was focused on his left hand at the moment. Finally he had gotten the whole hand to twitch, and he was determined to get back the use of his arms. Once Diana had left him alone, he began to move the fingers of his right hand. He had to move one finger at a time, but after days of no improvement at all, he was greatly encouraged by that revelation. He'd believed that his hand had moved to squeeze Diana's as she held it a few nights ago, but with no movement since then Bruce began to wonder if he'd just imagined that. By the time he moved over to his left hand, he had already been able to get his right arm to move outward. While he wasn't able to pick it up off the bed yet, he knew that in time he would also accomplish that task. But first he wanted to confirm how much movement he could perform, so he switched over to the left arm. It started off agonizingly slow at first as he could barely get a single finger to twitch, but slowly he was able to get responses from each finger. When he was able to get his thumb to respond as well, Bruce focused on clenching his hands into and out of fists.
Bruce switched back and forth between each hand as he struggled to do something that had come so natural to him only a few days ago. That frustration caused him to try even harder than before. Sweat began to bead up on his forehead as though he'd been lifting weights from the amount of effort he was putting into this little movement. Bruce felt incredibly weak thinking of how much effort it was taking to get his hands to respond. He wanted nothing more than to be able to hop out of bed and begin patrolling Gotham, but he hadn't even tried to get his legs to move yet. He knew that what Bane had done to him would have potentially done more damage to his lower body. There wasn't time to fret on what he might not be able to do however. He just wanted to focus on what he could do. With the amount of effort that Bruce was putting into moving his hands, it was beginning to take its toll on him. He was quickly running low on energy.
Bruce stopped trying to close both hands for a moment and closed his eyes to rest a bit. It was then that Diana happened to walk into the door with Alfred right behind her. She wondered for a moment if Bruce was sleeping and thought about turning around to let him rest until he opened his eyes and saw her. It was then that she noticed it. She saw what she deduced had been a genuine smile. Alfred was right, that there was a glimmer to his eyes that she'd never noticed from the pictures or even when she'd met Bruce Wayne at the charity. The smiles there never really reached his eyes. "It seems you're in a better mood now." She said, which prompted the smile to disappear, and Diana instantly regretted bringing it up at all.
"Yes." He responded. "I was wondering if you were coming back to go through more files."
Diana walked over to the side of the bed that she'd been sitting on each night, and once again gathered the pillows for support and the tablet PC before she settled in next to Bruce and helped Alfred to move Bruce's body in a more conducive position to view files together. Alfred also noticed the sweat on Bruce's forehead and wiped it away with a warm and damp washcloth. Once he was satisfied for the moment, he left the two of them alone to review files. Alfred had also noticed the smile on Bruce's face, and he knew that the smile wasn't because of Bruce seeing him, but Diana. The thought of Bruce finding happiness once again crept into the back of Alfred's mind, but he wouldn't allow those thoughts much credence due to previous experience. Perhaps though with Diana it could be different, and if not then perhaps he could do something himself to influence that outcome if he were to help Diana along the way in understanding how to get through to Bruce.
When Alfred closed the door behind him, Diana looked over at Bruce and noticed that he wasn't focusing on the tablet, but something else. She wondered for a moment if Bruce was still upset about Kal, but didn't want to bring it up, so she focused on work. "Just give me a moment to pull up the files where we last left..." Diana started.
Bruce interrupted her. "Diana, I need you to do something for me." He said.
"If I'm able to Bruce. What do you need?" She asked.
"I need you to take hold of my hand." He said.
Diana looked at him quizzically for a moment. "What do you need me to do that for?" She asked.
"Just humor me." He responded. "Please."
Diana had never heard Bruce say please before. Just that made her want to do as he requested. She didn't want to let a polite Bruce or Batman down if it were in her power. Grabbing Bruce's hand seemed easy enough to do anyways, and so she let the tablet PC rest on her thighs before reaching over and grabbing Bruce's right hand with her left. She casually set the two hands down on her lap before looking over at Bruce. "Okay, now what?" She asked. Bruce closed his eyes tightly for a moment and focused his concentration entirely on his hand, and then Diana felt it. Bruce's hand gently squeezing hers. She looked down at the hands joined together immediately upon feeling the sensation from his squeeze. While it wasn't much pressure at all, she could definitely feel it. She then changed her view from their hands together and turned to look Bruce in the eyes as he was now looking into hers. A smile spread across his lips, and she couldn't help but reciprocate the gesture. "I could feel that." She said in an almost whisper to him.
"So could I." He responded.