"What do you mean complications?" Ra's al Ghul yelled at one of his subordinates. "We've been delayed a second week as it is. The world should be suffocating in volcanic ash by now."
"I'm sorry sire; the men are doing all that they can." The subordinate apologized. "We just need a few more days to ready transport for your safe trip sir."
"Your apologies do not make up for your failures." Ra's said as he sat down on his throne. "You've dishonored yourself and your men." Ra's pulled out a sword and handed it to the man. "You know what you need to do next as a result of your failures." Ra's sat back and watched as the man looked down at the sword that sat in his hands. He kneeled on the ground before Ra's and held out the handle of the sword so that the pointed end was against his own stomach. After closing his eyes and saying a silent prayer, the subordinate rammed the blade into his midsection. His aim was true enough that he quickly bled to death. Ra's turned towards his servant. "Ubu, bring me Bane and my daughter."
Ra's' servant bowed and left to retrieve the requested guests for his master. Ra's didn't have to wait long before Bane arrived followed shortly thereafter by Talia. When they both were standing before him, he addressed them. "Talia, tell me again of your findings regarding the detective." He ordered.
"Father I visited the detective, and he was severely injured as a result of Bane's attack." She answered.
Ra's then looked over to Bane. "You said that you broke the detective." He stated. When Bane nodded in agreement to that assessment, Ra's continued. "Then tell me Bane. Why is it that some of my colleagues are hearing news of the detective being seen as recently as two nights ago?"
"There's no way that he could have healed so quickly." Bane said as he was astounded to have heard this. "I felt his bones breaking, I swear it."
"You will confirm these reports and return to base with your findings." Ra's ordered. "For your sake I certainly hope these reports are false. We need no more delays, and if the detective has not been removed from the equation then we will have to find a way to divert his attention from our activities before moving forward."
Talia stayed and watched as Bane left the room before she turned and approached her father. "You must believe me father." She said. "I was right next to my beloved. I know that he was unable to even lift a finger. This must be an imposter."
"Even so daughter, we have to be absolutely certain that the detective isn't out there finding ways to complicate my plans. He cannot be allowed to interfere."
~~ Watchtower ~~
Diana had been feeling differently ever since that night where she'd felt Bruce's hand squeeze on her own. When that occurred, she couldn't help but to call out to Alfred and relay the good news. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but she knew that something had changed within her. Even if she were to doubt it, any doubts would have been laid to rest by her teammate Shayera. Shayera had quickly picked up on the change and teased her about it for days. When Diana asked what was so different, Shayera merely stated that it looked like Diana had a spring in her step. Diana didn't understand what that meant, and that is when Shayera began to tease her. She decided to disregard it and act as though everything were normal. She also wanted to go down and check on Bruce's progress, but hadn't been able to since that night as her time was consumed with League business. The volcanic activity hadn't shown any signs of slowing yet, and there were still aftershocks to contend with as well. Evacuations were almost a daily occurrence for the League to help with as well as forest fires and other natural disasters as of a result of the volcanic activities. The League had pulled together all of the information on Ra's al Ghul, and were investigating what the man was up to, but to this point they had come up empty. They couldn't find any possible motive as to his end goal aside from what Bruce had informed them about in the past when he'd confronted Ra's before.
While Diana wasn't able to find enough free time to go down to visit personally, she did have a couple moments during monitor duty where she called in to Alfred and received updates. Alfred had told her that Dr. Leslie's visits had gone well, and Bruce was making great strides in his recovery. He was already sitting up under his own power, and they were going to set him up with a wheelchair so that he could do more than just be in the master bedroom. The only negative was that Bruce's legs were still unresponsive, but what Dr. Tompkins had seen during her last checkup provided some tentative hope that Bruce would fully recover from this one day.
~~ Wayne Manor ~~
Bruce had wanted to delve right into working on leads on Ra's al Ghul's plans, but he had to take things one day at a time. While he could sit up on his own, his fingers still didn't react as quickly as they used to. That made typing information problematic as Bruce's impatience would tend to rear its ugly head at times. He'd broken one tablet PC in a frustrated moment because of his hands not obeying his commands. In order to compensate for that, Alfred had ordered a voice command activated tablet PC to replace the destroyed older model. When it arrived, Barbara came over and linked it to the Batcave computer so that Bruce could get more work done.
He was greatly frustrated that he couldn't travel to the Batcave yet. Alfred, Dick, and Tim were still in the process of retrofitting it so that he could use a wheelchair to travel to certain areas of the cave such as the computers and test labs. Once that was complete, Bruce planned to watch during patrol mic'd up so that he could discuss things with the Batclan more effectively. That desire only grew when Tim and Barbara returned with some evidence of the Joker becoming active in the city once again. They all knew that it was only a matter of time before he'd pop up again. Bruce would never be able to rest easily when the Joker still was loose in the city. That clown seemed to haunt Bruce's thoughts any chance that he could, and he wasn't even aware of it. Of course Bruce still refused any help from the League, citing that their duties were to protect the whole world, not just Gotham and he had a team of capable replacements already patrolling the city. Never mind the fact that Bruce just didn't want Meta humans in his city. He'd already seen the results of a normal human defending Gotham, and it literally frightened him to even ponder what Gotham would create in return if a Meta were to begin protecting it from evil. It was Superman that had become angry during a conversation with Bruce about watching over Gotham. Bruce's adamant refusal had left Clark frustrated as he just couldn't understand why Bruce wouldn't be willing to accept help when it was seemingly so very needed. Bruce could only imagine that if evil such as the Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Scarecrow and numerous others seemed to appear just after Batman began to take control of the crime in Gotham what creature or being would rise up if Superman were to intervene. Such a being would be unthinkable and Bruce would never want something like that to be in Gotham, the city he vowed to protect. Clark would just have to accept that he didn't belong in Gotham.
After Alfred had brought up lunch for Bruce, he began some physical therapy. He was determined to get back whatever motor skills he could as quickly as possible. On the list of things that he performed would normally be thought of as simple tasks for a person to perform. He had some hand held devices to squeeze repeatedly for a specific number of repetitions between hands. No large amounts of weight were permitted at the time due to his still mending back. He wasn't even allowed to lift his own body weight so that he could move into a wheelchair and just get out of his bed on his own. Bruce had actually begun to hate having to ask Alfred for things. That would have seemed a foreign thought to him just a couple of weeks ago. Now he'd even enjoy the possibility of making himself something to eat even though he had no clue how to cook. Perhaps while he was recovering he'd try and pick up some cooking skills from Alfred. He wouldn't have anything other than recovering to distract him from paying attention to the details that Alfred would provide. Maybe he could try something that Alfred had deemed simple, like making spaghetti again. The last time it had turned out to be a horrible idea as Bruce wasn't even able to cook the noodles properly.
Bruce was then brought out of his reverie as Alfred once again entered the bedroom. "I'm sorry to interrupt sir, but a guest has arrived." Alfred said.
"I thought we discussed that when Diana shows up, you would just show her in." Bruce said as he knew of no other visitors that would come in to see Bruce without showing themselves in.
"I'm sorry sir, but Miss Diana is not the one who has arrived." Alfred responded.
"Well then who is it Alfred?" Bruce asked.
"Miss Kyle sir." Alfred answered. "She insisted upon seeing you sir as she happened to run into your son late last night."
Bruce then remembered Dick coming back from patrol and mentioning that he'd run into Selina. She'd quickly deduced that Dick wasn't Batman, but still had returned the Bastet Amulet regardless. And since Bruce hadn't read about chaos running rampant through the city, which had meant Selina had also refrained from letting the cat out of the bag about Batman being injured. "Send her in Alfred." Bruce requested.
Alfred disappeared and showed Selina into the bedroom. He was less than pleased that Selina had shown up. She'd been a heart breaking relationship waiting to happen to Bruce, and he didn't want to see his surrogate son be put through that when it was plain to see from his perspective. Selina walked confidently up to Bruce before sitting down next to him on the bed. Bruce worked carefully to join her in a more seated position. He took a deep exhaustive breath from the effort that it took to sit up before looking over into his guests eyes. "I'm surprised to see you here Selina." Bruce said.
"I'm surprised to see you in bed Bruce." Selina responded before gently grazing the back of her hand across his chest. "Well…. At least at this hour that is." She finished.
"Thank you for returning the amulet." Bruce responded as he wondered just what Selina wanted.
"Well, it is better than the alternative Bruce." She replied. "I'm sure you would've sent junior to come after me eventually if I hadn't, but I didn't come here to talk shop Bruce."
"What is it then?" Bruce asked.
"I came to see how seriously you've been hurt Bruce." Selina answered. "It had to be serious if you had Nightwing taking over for you."
"That was his decision." Bruce responded. "It was a calculated risk that he took, and judging from the numbers it was a well placed choice that he made. Lower level criminals are less bold when they believe that Batman is still out there."
"That may be true, but eventually someone will find out he isn't you." Selina stated.
"Batman can be anyone." Bruce replied. "That was the point of Batman. That a man can choose to take a stand against crime and corruption in Gotham. Nightwing knows that, and that is why he decided to use the mantel of the Batman."
"I see your point Bruce, but it just won't be the same if it isn't you out there." Selina said in a somber tone before she stood and walked over to a window and looked out of it at the city that stood behind a tree line.
Bruce watched her standing in front of the large window with the saddened look on her face. "It won't always be me Selina." He said. "Even if I ever do come back from this, there still will be a time that I can't continue being Batman. Either from old age, or another criminal, maybe even the same man will take me down again and I won't be able to fight again. That's part of the risk that I accepted when I chose to become Batman."
Selina looked over at Bruce with a tear falling from one of her eyes. She'd never thought of Batman as vulnerable, or that he'd one day be gone completely. "I hope I don't have to see that day ever come." She said quietly through a cracking and emotional voice. She walked back over to the bed and sat in front of Bruce once more. She lifted a hand and cupped his cheek before leaning in and placing a kiss against his lips. Bruce returned the kiss before Selina pulled away. She wiped the tear from her face and smiled at him. "Come back stronger than ever Bruce. Until you do, I'll do my best to help the kids keep Gotham in line."
Bruce couldn't help but to smile. He knew that Selina had a good heart. She'd just lived such a rough life growing up that she'd learned ways to survive on her own. While those means of survival weren't legal, she still was a good person inside, and it was that person in which Bruce had once hoped he could bring out to the forefront. Unfortunately he could never seem to do that on his own. How ironic it was that this critical injury from Bane would be the cause of Catwoman reforming. Bruce reached out and touched Selina's face softly with his hand. She put her hand over top of his and leaned into his touch while closing her eyes. After a few moments of silence, she released his hand and stood back up. Once again she had some tears to wipe from her face. "Next time be sure to take better care of yourself Bruce." She said. "Even as stubborn and arrogant as you are, some of us actually like having you around. It'd be a shame if you were to leave us behind too early."
Downstairs Alfred met Dick, who had stopped by to pick up Tim from school. Alfred warned the two boys about the unscheduled guest in Bruce's room, so they each opted to head to the Batcave instead of checking on Bruce first. Dick figured that Selina would stop by sooner rather than later due to running into her on the rooftops. He'd told both Barbara and Tim about his meeting up with Catwoman, and they too assumed that she would be stopping by at some point. Dick was going to reach out to Barbara so that she wouldn't be caught off guard from Selina's appearance as well. They went back to work on setting up wheelchair ramps for Bruce to stall for time until Selina left. Then they would head up to check on Bruce and grab some dinner before heading out on patrol. Dick was pleased that wearing the Batsuit had created the effect on the criminal element that he'd hoped. He wasn't comfortable wearing the suit that a man he grew up idolizing had worn. It felt like there was a shadow hovering over him while he was in that costume. There was a giant weight that came along with being Batman, and Dick had successfully set up his own identity apart from Batman. He didn't want to lose that because of how much he fought to create that image for himself. Perhaps in time, Tim would be ready and willing to step into the shadow of becoming Batman, but Dick didn't want it.
Dick and Tim just finished setting up a ramp that would enable Bruce to reach the laboratory when an alarm began to sound. Each of the boys looked over to the computer screens and saw that an incoming transport was being issued for the cave. They had just enough time to glance over at the person being transported and make themselves scarce, but when they saw who it was, they only stood and faced the platform. Slowly a female figure appeared before them in a white light that finally revealed Wonder Woman. She wasn't in her uniform. Bruce had asked her not to wear it if her intentions were to leave the cave and head into the manner. She was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. She had her hair pulled back into a tight pony tail, and was wearing glasses. Her bracelets still made it impossible not to know that it was Wonder Woman though. She smiled when she saw the two young protégés of Bruce's standing there watching her. It was like they were standing guard, and Diana couldn't help but to respect them both. "Wonder Woman." They both said in unison.
"Please, call me Diana." She responded as she approached them both before sticking out her hand to Dick. "You must be Dick Grayson and Tim Drake. Bruce has spoken very highly of each of you."
Dick and Tim looked at each other stunned by what they'd heard. Dick eventually shook Diana's extended hand before he found his voice long enough to respond. "Umm, yeah." He said. "That's Tim, and I'm Dick. It's nice to finally meet you…Diana."
As soon as Dick let go of Diana's hand, Tim was quick to latch onto it before Diana could have pulled it away. "It's an honor to meet you Wonder….err Diana." Tim said as he shook Diana's hand energetically. "What brings you here?"
"I actually came by to see if I could be of any assistance with Bruce's physical therapy." She answered. "Alfred called me and told me how much of a struggle it's been for him to help Bruce move around much, and I wanted to help if I could."
A smirk started to sprout up on Dick's face upon hearing Diana's answer. He knew the old man better than anyone aside from Bruce, and he could tell that Alfred was putting his hands on Bruce's relationship with the Amazon. Apparently, Alfred liked Diana, and if he thought there was a chance for Bruce to find love and happiness, then the faithful surrogate father would dabble enough to provide Bruce opportunities for reaching out and possibly finding happiness. Then it dawned on Dick that Bruce was upstairs with Selina still. Even though it was most likely completely innocent, Selina was not the type of woman that Diana should run into when Bruce was involved. Selina knew every trick in the book, and if she felt any threat to Bruce wanting to be with someone else, then she certainly would use those tricks to her advantage. While Diana had been in man's world for some time now, she had no knowledge about competing for a man's affection, especially like Selina did. Suddenly, an idea came to Dick as Diana was approaching the bottom of the stairs that led to the Manor. "Actually Diana, we could use your help if you could spare a few minutes." Dick started, which caused Diana to stop in her tracks so that she could hear what he had to say. "You see, we're building these ramps for Bruce so that he can get down here with a wheel chair until he starts walking again. I'm sure you know that with Bruce, the sooner he gets to the cave, the sooner his stubbornness will take over and get him back out there even more quickly."
Diana believed what Dick said would be true. If Bruce were able to get down to the Batcave and see everything down there that made him Batman, it couldn't do anything but to help keep the fire lit for him to recover as quickly as possible. As much as she'd have hated to believe the thought possible in as little as a month ago, she found that she actually missed seeing Batman on the Watchtower. Even the annoying facets that would usually rear their ugly heads. "Just tell me what I can do to help." She offered as she turned back to help the two young men complete their construction project.
Dick was glad that Diana went along with the diversion. With her strength and ability to fly, they would have the ramps all built in no time. While they worked, Diana was full of questions for each of the two young men. She was insatiable with the amount of information that she wanted to figure out about how they'd come to meet Bruce and how they'd managed to work alongside Batman in his own city. From that, Diana believed for a moment that if one didn't experience an incredibly traumatic event that Bruce wouldn't allow them to be in Gotham. Dick quickly pointed out the Batgirl origin to correct that line of thinking. Diana enjoyed all the things she was learning about Bruce and his new family. Each of them showed a strength of will that could only be rivaled by Bruce himself. That seemed to be the common theme amongst them all. Dick and Tim had experienced tragedy that only helped tie them to Bruce even more.
Time seemed to fly by, as before any of them knew it, the ramps were all completed and it was nearly time to head out on patrol. Diana saw Dick hesitate before he approached the Batsuit to change into it. "Do you not want to get into the Batman suit Dick?" She asked.
Dick stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to face her. His shoulders slumped slightly with a sigh that escaped his lips. "No Diana." He answered. "I don't."
"But why?" She asked. "I would have thought wearing a great champion's armor such as Batman's would be an honor."
"It's a burden more than an honor." Dick responded as he turned to face her. "I'll never be Bruce, Diana. He makes Batman the man that he is. Both to criminals and the innocent."
"Then why go out in that armor instead of your own?" She wondered aloud.
"It's a necessary evil." Dick replied.
"I'm afraid I don't understand." Diana responded.
"The mantle of Batman is based on fear Diana." Dick explained after turning to look upon the Batsuit. "Criminals in Gotham are scared to death of crossing Batman. That's part of the reason behind Bruce forbidding Meta human's from helping in the city. If he loses the element of fear with criminals and they realize that Batman is just a man, then they'll get more violent. Perhaps they'd even get violent enough to go after Bruce and take him out. They can come to the same conclusion from seeing that Batman can be hurt too."
"So that's why you're going out as Batman instead of Nightwing." Diana stated. "So that Bruce's image will remain in the criminal element's mind, and to help protect Bruce by making certain that the fear doesn't waver."
"You nailed it." Dick responded. "If Batman isn't feared, then he's just a man in a costume. And a man in a costume can be overcome or even killed. We need every edge that we can get in this fight."
With that, Diana was able to gain a better understanding of why Bruce maintained the persona that he did while under the cape and cowl. She knew now that it was to help him seem superhuman in a way even though he didn't possess true super powers. Fear alone could help one find their way to victory, and Bruce had mastered the ability to instill fear in the low lives of Gotham. She'd even seen him use that fear on other parts of the world before on League missions. But thinking of Bruce then brought her back to the original reason she'd come in the first place. She glanced back over to the staircase to see Alfred making his way down with a tray in his hands. He was taken by surprise to see her there as she hadn't been expected. He let the faintest of smiles grace his lips for a second before his training took control of his facial features and returned his look to one of indifference. Alfred walked up to the three of them before setting the tray to the side. "Master Dick, Master Timothy." Alfred stated. "Dinner is prepared for you. Also, Miss Barbara telephoned to state that she would be joining you in the city this evening."
"Thanks Alfred." Tim said while lifting the tray cover up to go over what Alfred had prepared.
Alfred then turned to face Diana. "Good evening Miss." He said.
"Good evening Alfred." Diana responded. "I don't suppose Bruce is available this evening?"
"It happens by chance that Master Bruce's evening is rather light." Alfred answered before offering his arm. "Please do follow me Miss Diana. I would be more than delighted to escort you to him."
Diana placed her hand in the crook of Alfred's arm before saying her farewells to Tim and Dick. She then walked with Alfred up the stairs and into the Manor. The boys quickly scarfed down the food before changing into the Batman and Robin suits. Within minutes they were in the Batmobile and heading for the streets of Gotham at breakneck speed. They wanted to get hold of Joker and return him to Gotham before Bruce became too stressed out about the clown traipsing about the city. They also wanted to be able to switch gears to Ra's al Ghul, and how to stop Bane. Even though they agreed to steer away from the masked man if they came across him, there was still vengeance on each of their minds.
As Diana walked up to the bedroom with Alfred, she picked up on a scent that she didn't recognize from her times before. It was a distinctly female scent. She recalled smelling something similar while walking through a mall as she sought to learn more about the women of man's world. She wondered if that Talia had returned wearing a perfume. Diana's blood began to boil at the thought of that woman being left alone with Bruce. "Did Bruce have a visitor today?" She asked Alfred.
"One of Master Bruce's former friendly acquaintances did stop by for a time to visit Miss." Alfred answered honestly. "You need not worry Miss Diana. While Miss Kyle is aware of Master Bruce's dual lives, she's never given up such information."
Diana then wondered how this Miss Kyle was able to become aware of Bruce's dual identities, but on second thought, she no longer cared. Diana just wanted to help Bruce recover, and after working with Tim and Dick, she also wanted to take him down to the cave so that they could see what else would need to be done to prepare it for Bruce on a wheelchair. Gotham needed him, and the League needed him. Something was just missing if he weren't in the equation, and Diana wanted that to change if she could help it. If she had any say in it, helping Bruce to recover would be exactly what she would do.