Murder at Wayne Manor

Chapter 17

Batcave; July 15th, 19:47 EST

Diana swiftly spins on her heel, her elbow connecting with my side and causing me to grunt with the direct contact with my ribs. I don't allow her a chance to finish her move, though, grabbing her by the arm and flipping her off balance. She lands hard on the mat, face-down and gasping as the wind is momentarily knocked from her lungs. She huffs in annoyance, blowing a curl out of her line of sight.

I dig my knee into her back and lean in close to her ear as I tighten my hold on her arms. "My point," I remind her with a taunting edge to my voice. "Question goes on the voting ballot."

Diana growls as I release my hold on her and she immediately rolls onto her back, sitting up to glare haughtily at me. "Question? Really?" she answers with a scowl. "You won't even consider Nightwing, but you'll let someone like Question into the League?"

"Let him find another club to join," I tell her. "We've got too many on the list as it is. We need to keep narrowing it down."

"Question is a paranoid lunatic, Bruce."

"There's nothing wrong with being paranoid," I point out, using a towel to wipe the sweat from my face. "It's saved me more times than you can begin to imagine."

"Bruce," she says with that look that always makes me want to smile on the inside as she stands to her feet, her hands finding her hips. "There's your level of paranoia and then there's Question's. He's so bad he makes you look normal."

I narrow my eyes as I stare at her, contemplating her words. "If that was supposed to be some sort of compliment, I'm not feeling all that flattered."

She suddenly realizes what she has just said, her expression priceless. "No, I didn't mean that you're crazy or anything like that," she quickly amends. "I just meant that sometimes it's good to be a little paranoid, but not always. Question just takes it to an extreme is what I was trying to say. You're fine, Bruce...really. Well, not totally fine. I mean you do have your issues like trust, but—"

I can no longer hold back the grin that's struggling to break free. She's too endearing as she tries to backtrack, her cheeks growing pink as she grows more flustered, nervously tucking a loose curl behind her ear. It's somewhat vindicating knowing I can make her as disconcerted as she is able to make me, taking me off guard and keeping me on my toes.

"I knew what you meant, Princess," I reveal. "I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with. Alfred and Dick have both reminded me of that fact on an almost daily basis over the years."

Her lips quirk into a smile that could only be described as affectionate as she stares at me in disbelief. It warms me clear through to my toes. "You do tend to test my patience at times, but I can handle it," she confesses with a shrug of a shoulder. "Besides, I've always loved a good challenge."

"I'm probably the biggest challenge that you'll ever encounter," I flirt as I slowly close the distance between us, my focus solely on her like a predator would its prey.

"I'm sure I've encountered far worse...although nothing seems to come to mind at the moment," she teases, her head tipping slightly to the side. The movement causes her hair to cascade over her left shoulder and it only adds to her allure.

I come to a stop before her, memories of a soft kiss shared the night before floating through my brain and taunting me with what I want. She's standing right here before me, full of such life and energy and beauty. All I have to do is reach out and grab her, pull her to me and take what I've been longing to for some time now, but I know that I can't.