Murder at Wayne Manor

Chapter 2

Gotham; April 6th, 16:53 EST

Driving home from work, I relax into the leather seat of my sports car and allow my mind to wander. It's one of the brief periods of time during my day that I actually permit myself the luxury of letting my mind go wherever it wants to.

Typically, my mind is always working—working out a business deal for Wayne Enterprises, sorting through every angle of a case that I'm trying to solve in Gotham or designing something new for the Watchtower or the cave.

Today, though, I am free to think on other things.

Wayne Enterprises is running at maximum efficiency, worth far more this year than ever before. Construction of the new Watchtower is well underway and I have a plan in motion to stop Ash from destroying my city. Things are finally beginning to look up again, not perfect, of course, but things are well on their way now in every aspect of life.

Gazing at the trees that are beginning to bud, I allow my thoughts to drift to my current houseguests. J'onn has pretty much set up shop in the cave in order to monitor disasters and crimes all over the world. Despite no longer having a Watchtower and being down a League member, he has done a remarkable job so far, organizing missions and keeping everything in line as though nothing disastrous had happened a week ago.

With recent talk of expanding our League membership, he is going to need substantial help with running and coordinating everything. I believe hiring a civilian staff will be necessary to help keep things functioning smoothly and helping to lessen the tremendous load on J'onn. Besides, with the sheer size of the new Watchtower, we'll need as much staff as possible to keep it running efficiently at all times.

Right now, I'm looking at a rather impressive superhero by the name of Mr. Terrific who is a genius and would be an excellent addition to the League. I've been keeping tabs on him for quite some time, but I think he and J'onn would make a good team heading up the Monitor Womb as well as organizing missions.

I need to sit down with Diana and finalize the layout of the Watchtower before construction progresses much further. Right now, the hull is being built, giving us at least a month before the final plans for the interior need to be submitted.

After the Thanagarian invasion, it became abundantly clear that expanding our numbers would be in the best interest of the world. Diana has agreed to help me work through a list of potential superheroes and metahumans that would be excellent additions to the Justice League. She was already researching the names on our list before I left for work this morning.

Diana.

I can't help but let my thoughts naturally shift from League business to her. I was most hesitant about her moving into the manor. As much as I hate to admit it, she captivates me like no one I have ever met before. She has a tendency to awaken things inside of me that I don't want to acknowledge are there, let alone dwell on.

Without even realizing it, she has managed to become a valued friend, one whom I feel I can trust with my life. More than that, though, I can't get that kiss we shared in the Indian restaurant out of my head.

It was merely a kiss based on survival, one born of necessity not desire and yet for some reason I can't seem to forget about it. I find myself replaying that moment in my head when I least expect it—the feel of her soft lips against mine, her hands caressing my face, the shy innocence that illuminated her eyes after as she apologized for kissing me.

It's a warm memory that whirls around in my brain, always lingering in the recesses of my mind and subtly working its way to the forefront of my thoughts when I least expect it. It's even beginning to appear in my dreams, mingling with the nightmare that visits me every night when I close my eyes. Her kiss sooths me and attempts to relieve my pain when I need it most.