Chapter Fifteen
"Hello, Dana?" Loud music on the other end of the call filtered through into Terry's ears, he could barely make out a few faint voices on the other side. Terry really couldn't blame his girlfriend for going out with her friends without him. Especially when he'd canceled their date that night, but still he kinda wished that she remembered that she answered his call and would speak with him.
After several minutes of waiting, Terry heard a voice on the other line giggle and finally speak, "Oh! Terry, what's up?"
Immediately Terry wished he just hadn't called her. He was just so messed up right now with the old man missing and he wanted a kind voice to tell him 'everything was going to be alright.' But instead, he got a drunk Dana Tang and a group of her friends.
Terry was starting to realize he didn't fit into her world anymore. To be honest, Terry couldn't even spare time to actually care about his failing relationship at the moment. For all he knew, Me. Wayne was on the other side of the world having another heart attack and without his medication, he would be in bad shape.
Dana was fun and lively and they had a history together but she was nowhere near all of this… How could he even consider bringing her into it?!
"Nothing just wanted to check in with you. Are you having fun?" Terry grimaced when he said the words, they sounded so lame, but unloading everything seemed wrong now too.
"Oh yeah, everything is fine Terry. Are you alright?" Dana replied hesitantly.
Pausing for a moment to consider his words Terry said the first thing that was on his mind, "Yeah… I uh, knew that with the fight and all that we just had…"
"God Dana, your boyfriend is such a Spud! What? Has he gotten so afraid that she would find a boy that could actually spend time with her?" The voice of Chelsea Cunningham came across the line disrupting their conversation midway.
"Hey! Don't give him the wrong ideas." Dana complained.
"Well, I'm going to tell you now McGinnis. There are a ton of boys that have already asked her to dance tonight. So, if you plan to keep an awesome chick like her waiting forever…" The annoying voice of Chelsea faded away as the call ended abruptly.
All at once frustration and helplessness threatened to overwhelm him as he watched the call void. He knew that Chelsea was right. Dana was a good girl, but she wasn't his wife and there was only so much a girl could take. It was probably time for them to call it quits and save them both from further heartache.
Shaking his head, he went back towards the crime scene.
Terry's left eye twitched as a man (with literally no face) watched a video for the seventh time that day but Terry wasn't 'needed' for this part of the investigation. Diana told him that they didn't plan to 'cut him out' on the investigation, but that was exactly what it felt like was happening currently.
Though it wasn't really her fault, that the 'Question' or so he was called (lame name) said he didn't want any distractions while he was going over the video. It was possibly exactly what Wayne would do if he was here, but Terry still hated having to wait on the sidelines… and he still wouldn't like it in the slightest.
He knew he could help! All he had to do is get an image and he could use his suit's facial recognition program and at least have a lead and people to track down. He just hated feeling the uselessness of it all.
Suddenly, Terry felt someone come up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. Looking up, he spotted something he didn't think he could ever actually see outside of pictures. In history books, Terry had seen pictures of Diana in her 'Wonder-Woman' alter ego before, but the entire time he had known the older woman she had at most been in tactical uniforms or runner's clothes. He had once asked her why she never wore the old suit and she just smiled stating, "We'll need a big enough threat for that…"
Smirking at her, though the action felt a little odd for their current situation he spoke, "We'll I see you have the right clothes, they seem to still fit."
Smiling back at him she wordlessly motioned him to walk further away from where Question was working, she knew if they stayed there talking, he would begin to get grumpy. 'The old man is losing patience these days.' Diana thought bitterly. She had already been on the receiving end of his frustrating grumblings and didn't think she could handle it anymore. If this man wasn't the second-best detective in the world, she would be fine with only speaking to him occasionally.
Turning to her student she walked further away and slipped him a data file. The entire process was completely nonverbal but Terry understood as he slipped the stick into his utility belt and allowed his suit's computer to display the information directly into his visual receivers.
Within moments he watched the old man's capture and his system had already identified the woman in the video. 'Talia al Ghul' Daughter of the late Ra's Al Ghul' leader of the League of Assassin's and... Terry paused in his research confused. There was apparently a restriction on more relevant information regarding the old man's history with them!
Terry's blue orbs narrowed in determination. He wasn't going to let Wayne's attempt to give him only the 'relative information' stop him this time around. It had become a bad habit of the old man to 'shield him' when the cases get a little too close to revealing any of the old Bat's secrets.
Terry began hacking into the server to find out what Wayne had been keeping from him.
---
Diana hid her emotions pretty well, maybe not as well as Bruce but above the average person none the less. Her heart had sunk every time she thought of her old friend in peril. But Diana had managed to steel her raging emotions and kept a straight enough face in front of anyone that might have been paying attention.
She knew Bruce to be a very resourceful man, she knew he would survive any situation he was faced with. She wouldn't even be surprised if they didn't meet halfway to where ever he had been taken. With a battalion of people behind him she assumed, and then they would come to help clean up the mess. That brilliant man had a way of being very unpredictable at all times. Especially when everyone counted him out.
...But she still couldn't help being fearful that this time he wouldn't be able to come back to them.
There were feelings that they had never expressed... like what she felt for him. Once upon a time, they had shared a kiss, though it might not have been anything more than a way to divert attention at the time. Over the years she would still think back to it from time to time. Diana couldn't help wonder, 'Could there have ever been something more?'
---
Bruce Wayne woke up with a heavy head. The area around his gagged mouth was dry from saliva. His feet were tied together and his hands were bound. Ugly green striped wallpaper was faded and peeling in the room they had stashed him in. The door was wooden and there were intricate designs carved into the wood panels. If he wasn't mistaken, they were ancient Sumerian hieroglyphics about immortality.
In another setting, he might have been intrigued about the story it described but currently, he couldn't care less.
Bruce had been through a few treatments of the Lazarus Pit and with each experience, he had taken about 12 hours for him to regain rationality. Even now he felt like his sanity was slipping, but the only thing that seemed to keep him from fully submerging into the peace of madness was...
A lone window on the top of the wall had been that showed a slight amount of sunshine peeking through its small frame. He knew exactly where he was, he had been here before. It would be a tight fit for his mostly restored body to squeeze through but even if he had to dislocate an arm to escape, he wouldn't really mind. After all of the battles, the pain wouldn't really mean much to him and while his pain receptors were still in shock, he probably could run through a field of razors and not feel anything.
"Ahh, Detective. You're awake and probably planning your escape I assume." His voice was crisp and sounded exactly the same as Ra's Al Ghul had all those years ago.
Bruce still couldn't believe the demon had somehow managed to survive after his body had died. Maybe he was slipping to not have expected something like this.
"Well, Detective do I seem familiar? Yes, I bet you know exactly who I am." The smug grin that spread across his son's face seemed unnatural and horrifying at the same time.
Still, Bruce didn't say anything. He would like to say his silence was part of a plan to get Ra's Al Ghul to reveal his dark intentions but that wouldn't be the case. Bruce was filled with the violent intention to murder this man where he stood. With the raw emotions from the Lazarus Pit clouding his mind, Bruce thought it best not to say anything for the moment.
Chuckling Ra's Al Ghul continued, "Yes, I understand fully well how you are feeling. Maybe better than you think... And I know you would never understand my point of view but this..." Gesturing at his body before speaking again, "Had to be done. Not for me, but for the world."
Again Bruce ignored his ramblings, every mad man had a reason why they had to be cruel and merciless to the world. Usually, it was for 'saving it' or some other such nonsense. This wasn't anything new, just another day in a tragic life, Bruce brooded.
"Ah, I see you don't believe my words but maybe you understand by telling you something very important."
Bruce really wanted to roll his eyes or at the idiotic thought process of this mad man. He was too old for this... but Ra's next words brought him up short.
"The world as we know it will end in a week's time."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Lonefrog
Lonefrog I know it's been a while since I last updated. Sorry for the wait. I'm going to be a little slow for a little while, just bear with me.
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