The Proposal

09. Suspicions Tested

Author: Batman_Wolverine (a.k.a. Bruce Logan)

Summary: Things develop further!!

‘She’s not alone’

As soon as that realization hit him, Bruce jumped out the bed and rushed for the cave. He had work to do.

“Alfred, cancel all my appointments,” he instructed to a surprised but still stoic butler.
“Master Bruce…” the kindly older man started.
“Bruce Wayne has the viral….” he continued, setting up a reason for sudden change in plans. “…or diarrhea or some form of rare debilitating disease. Just put it out….and release it to the press for good measure. Make it an interesting choice, one that will get me off for at least three to four days.”

Alfred merely raised a salt-n’-pepper eyebrow at this erstwhile ward’s strange change in behavior. Although, even he gave a ‘one-corner upturned’ smile at the cause of these change, its proof clear on the rumpled paper clutched between the younger man’s hands.
“Yes sir,” he gave a nod as Bruce stepped out of the room.
“Thanks Alfred,” Bruce called over his back.

-----

Soon,

“Hello,” Diana leapt for her phone at its first ring. She had been practically under house arrest ever since her co-conspirators had put their plan into action. With each passing day she had been growing more angsty.

When she had agreed to try out what they had suggested, she had said that she would be giving it only a week, her heart and mind still not completely convinced with it.

A week…..a week that ended today.

“Diana,” a male voice answered from the other side.
“Yes,” she instantly knew who it was. “What is it now?”
“Whoa whoa,” the male chuckled. “Did I catch you at a wrong time or are you always this chirpy in the mornings.”
“What is it?” Diana repeated her question slowly and a bit more calmly.

“The news just came in; Bruce Wayne seems to have taken ill.”
“Why? What happened?” Diana stood up from her bed.
“Don’t worry Diana,” the voice calmed her. “I checked it with the source. He’s not sick. He’s working.”
“Oh,” Diana sighed in relief. ‘Working’ with Bruce Wayne being sick meant only thing. He was the Batman right now.

“Yup,” the mystery man continued. “It seems that he got this way after reading this morning’s paper.”
“Paper?” Diana turned to look for her own. ‘What was in the paper that affected him in such a way?’
“Yes,” that infuriating chuckle was back again. “Front page, side panel.”

“Hera,” Diana drew back in horror as he eyes caught the headline of that article. “Not this.”
“Don’t worry Diana,” her ‘partner’ tried to calm her. “Everything will be fine.”
“I’ve got to go,” Diana said as she ended the call and replaced the phone in its cradle.

-----

Minutes later,

‘Batman’ was in his underground ‘lair’. He was sitting silently staring at the blank computer screen of the main bat-computer.

For the past two hours, he had been wracking his mind to remember and analyze every detail of the past one week, starting from the confrontation in the monitor womb, to the meeting at Diana’s apartment, to the avoiding in the watchtower and the rest of the major and minor details.
The most important detail lay in front of him in the form of the newspaper article he had read at least a dozen times.

‘She is not alone,’ his logical mind continuously piped up.
‘Diana wouldn’t do that,’ the Bruce part countered. ‘She couldn’t be so sneaky…so…’
‘So much like us,’ Wayne stepped up to bat.

‘You again,’ Bruce flopped back on the proverbial chair.
‘Can’t get rid of me buddy boy,’ the playboy wiggled his eyebrows. ‘We lost it man. Wonder Woman involved with Billionaire Playboy. Should have been us.’
‘I know,’ Bruce skulked.

‘All is not lost,’ the Bat surprised his other two personalities.
‘What can we do?’ the Playboy shrugged his shoulders.
‘We can still get what we want…get her,’ the Bat looked away.
‘Why would you help us,’ Bruce looked at him skeptically. ‘You were the one who got us in this position in the first place. You and your time and place for no one stand. No one except your precious Gotham and her unlawful populace.’

‘I miss her,’ both Bruce and the Playboy almost missed those whispered words.
‘What did you say?’ Bruce asked, unable to believe his *ears*.
‘I MISS her,’ the Bat repeated forcefully.
‘Rrreaaally,’ the Playboy shook his head. ‘Cause you sure showed us that when you told her to lay off.’
‘I did it for her own good,’ the Bat answered somberly. ‘Hers’ and his,’ his lifted a finger at the sleeping eight year old orphan child.
‘What do you mean?’ Bruce narrowed his eyes.

‘Everyone who comes near us gets hurt,’ the Bat reasoned. ‘Everyone’
Both of the other two personalities couldn’t say anything to counter this reasoning and waited for the Bat to continue.
‘Everyone leaves,’ the Bat walked up and stood between the adult Bruce and the child. ‘That hurts us. I wanted to avoid that.’

‘So why the change now?’ Bruce still sounded a bit unconvinced.
‘Just as you have parts of me and then inside you,’ the Bat gestured to the Playboy and the child. ‘So do I have parts of all of you.’
‘What does that mean,’ Bruce was confused.

-----

‘That means, the Bat has grown a heart,’ the Playboy answered dryly, his tone losing its cheap biting humor. ‘And that heart is beating for the princess.’

Bruce looked from the Bat to Wayne and back to the Bat.
‘Oh,’ was all he could say as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.
‘Yeah, real oh,’ the Playboy smirked from his *perch*.

‘So what do we do now,’ all the three started together, the real life Bruce ‘Batman’ Wayne voicing that thought aloud.

“What do I do?”