"So, Bruce, what's brought you up here to our humble abode?" Wally's eyes sparked with mischief.
"I received a call from Clark about a situation he needed help with. I had some time to spare, so I came." Bruce had turned back to look out the massive windows.
As if space really holds the answer to my dilemma.
While Bruce proceeded to lose himself, once again, in his own thoughts, Clark pinned Wally with his gaze. Wally knew what that look meant, but he figured he could live with the consequences. He gave Clark a lazy grin and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "What can you do?" Clark decided to see how well Wally could play at his own game.
"Oh yes, I had forgotten. Wally, you were the one who told me about the 'problem' so why don't you give Bruce all the details as well." Clark's self-satisfied smirk seemed to mock Wally, but he was already prepared for this kind of situation and, putting on his best pseudo-serious face, he announced:
"My fellow superheroes, this day shall live on in infamy throughout the rest of time. We have been attacked by a foreign enemy, who's identity has yet to be determined. All we know as of yet is that they have stolen something from us that is more precious than any metal, jewel, or --"
"Get to the point Flash. I didn't come up here for a public address. The facts, please." Bruce was quickly reaching the limit of his patience with Wally. Only Wally actually, as he was the only one who could really get under Bruce's skin.
"--stone. My dear fellows, we have run out of Toilet Paper." His grin stretched so far, it nearly split his face in two. Clark had to literally bite his tongue to keep from outright guffawing. Bruce, however, spun around and with an expression of seething anger ground out a single, "What?"
"As ridiculous as it sounds, the kid speaks the truth, Bruce." The firm yet feminine voice of the woman who occupied, nay dominated, Bruce's dreams caused all three men to jump a little from surprise. It also sent chills up a certain superhero's spine. Well, two chills to be exact. One nervous anticipation, the other pure fear. Fears only someone with abandonment issues could have.
Do not react. It's not worth the endless tormenting mockery from Flash. Or Clark, for that matter.
Bruce worked hard to keep his emotions private. He never truly liked the idea of everyone knowing his thoughts without his verbally expressing them. People knew what he wanted them to know. More than one person told him he had serious emotional issues. Bruce, being Bruce Wayne, merely laughed the comment away. When he became Batman, however, he would dwell on it, mulling it over in his mind. The same way a child would continually press on a bruise just to see if it still hurt. As it was, Bruce was now summoning up every ounce of negative emotion to mask the storm of passion building in his heart.
"So, Bruce, I didn't know you were up here. What has brought you to us? Surely not the inconsequential crisis we are having here." Princess Diana was praying to Hera with every fiber of her being that Bruce had really come to see her this time. Of course, Hera has never been particularly fond of men in general so Bruce's response, while it saddened Diana, didn't surprise her.
